


alone at the edge of a universe

by Sarcastic_Metaphor



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Injury, Camp Jupiter (Percy Jackson), Chaos!Percy, Dark Percy Jackson, Gen, Nico stays at camp but is EmoTM, No Romance, Not Canon Compliant, Percy Jackson Needs a Hug, Percy Jackson is a Mess, Percy can have a little bit of being an abomination, Sad Percy Jackson, Temporary Character Death, am i basically rewriting all of PJO?, as a treat, perhaps, strap in folks bc Percy b in for a real bad time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:20:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 89,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26214754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarcastic_Metaphor/pseuds/Sarcastic_Metaphor
Summary: “So spiraling down thy majestyI beg of thee, have mercy on meI was just a boy, you seeI plead of thee, have sympathy for me”(Or, an AU where Percy is born a little less human and a little more otherworldly than healthy. )
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Percy Jackson, Jason Grace & Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo & Percy Jackson, Percy Jackson & Grover Underwood, Percy Jackson & Poseidon, Percy Jackson & Sally Jackson
Comments: 296
Kudos: 753
Collections: Percy Jackson





	1. death minute in decimal

**Author's Note:**

> This AU came to me on a whim one day, and I don't have a super concrete plan yet. I think I want to make a series of loosely-connected chapters that will also play with canon a lot. I want to have fun by writing Percy being happy, but more importantly, by sending him on a downward spiral where he loses more and more of his humanity!
> 
> For this first chapter, I also wanted to try my hand at making a small rewrite of Lightning Thief within my AU, mainly because I’ve been in love with the musical lately. (Can u spot all the musical references?)
> 
> Title from the song Dream Sweet in Sea Major and summary from the song The Mind Electric, both by Miracle Musical

Percy Jackson was not even born when plans for him were set in motion. Plans made by his father, who hoped he’d live to see Camp Half-Blood. Plans made by his mother, who was using the funds saved for her night classes to prepare for her baby on the way. Plans made by the fates, who fully intended to spin him a thread nice and long, but frayed and knotted by hardship. 

And then there was a plan laid out by a being even older than fate. A being of such immense breadth and power that they could not even solidify their essence into a single, physical body. A being who was the fabric of all things, fate, life, and death included. A being who sought to awaken himself and tread the world and all the realms in which his descendants created. A being who wanted a vessel, more in spirit than in body or mind.

So when Percy Jackson was only a babe in the womb, two-thirds formed and still another trimester to complete, all prior plans for him were disrupted. The essence of a third party seeped through his sleeping mother’s skin and poisoned her unborn child. Most living beings were meant to work in halves. Half of one parent, half of another. Percy Jackson was meant to be half mortal, half god. He was meant to be the spawn of Sally Jackson and Poseidon alone. 

But what he was meant to be was split apart, broken and reformed with new pieces binding the fractured blood and bones together again. Mortal beings with entire destinies laid out were not meant to work in thirds. 

And why Perseus Jackson, of all babies yet to be born?

Some whims simply manifested as they pleased. The sea did not like to be restrained, and neither did the abyss. 

Sally Jackson woke up that night in a cold sweat and with a scream on her lips. She was taken to the nearest hospital alone, her baby boy born prematurely. She was so scared, not just for herself, but for her little Perseus. But in the aftermath of the miracle of birth (and what a miracle it was), the raucous cries of a newborn baby broke the silence. 

Percy Jackson was alive. He was something wrong and something right and something broken and something fixed, but he was alive. And for a brief moment, as he was being held by his mother for the very first time, all seemed well. 

* * *

The first time it happened, it was on the eve of little Percy’s third month of life. He was asleep in his crib. His mother was resting in her room. The first time it happened, Percy did not put up a monstrous fight or go out with a bang. His heart, still trying to figure out if it actually needed to beat in order for him to live, stuttered and stopped. Percy Jackson, at the tender age of three months old, died in the night. Mortal and even half-god souls went to the realm of Hades to be judged upon death, but Percy didn’t have a soul like them. 

(Rest assured, he did indeed have a soul.)

His own was just comprised of a different makeup. Permanence didn’t suit it. Dwelling forever in Hades didn’t suit it. So his soul went elsewhere. Deeper. Darker. Much lower than Hades. 

* * *

Tartarus preferred to dwell not in a physical form. He relished the fear caused by the idea of some abstract, bottomless pit crawling with abominations. And for thousands of years, he was content to sleep. He was in his element (literally) as Tartarus itself. Above him was his descendant Hades, and below him was his only predecessor.

But the distance between him and Chaos had been growing larger over the past few hundred years. So much so that, even if he tried to open his eyes and extend his consciousness downward, his father was still out of reach. However, this discrepancy in the fabric of the universe meant little to Tartarus. Chaos was a fickle thing, a living thing. Chaos came and went as they pleased in all corners of existence. 

So imagine Tartarus, primordial personification of the Pit, and imagine his surprise when the cries of a human child woke him from his slumber. He searched all parts of himself for the strange sound, but could not pinpoint its source. Being so vast, something as small as an infant was like trying to find a single ant crawling over his body. 

Tartarus conjured up a physical form and with his tangible ears, found the culprit. A naked human baby. In Tartarus. As if it had been freshly reborn like any monster. And somehow, it had yet to be mauled by any passing beasts.

“And how exactly did you appear here?” Tartarus asked in the primordial tongue of the first living beings, speaking more to himself than anyone else. 

He shed even more of his true self, becoming smaller and smaller until he was the size of a mortal man. No enemy had ever required him to manifest himself in such a diminutive form, but curiosity was a powerful motivator. He picked up the baby and immediately felt that there was something off about it. 

“Ah, so you have some god blood in you?”

It was faint and very weak, but Tartarus recognized the power of the sea god coming off the babe.

“So how should I kill you?” Tartarus asked the baby. 

He assumed he could just drop the little creature from a modest height and it would kill him. 

But then the baby opened his eyes and Tartarus stilled. The child, whatever he was, had eyes unlike any mortal. Unlike any _god._

They looked human, even if they were the same striking green as Posiedon. But there was something in them that only a being as old as Tartarus would recognize. Something indescribably powerful. 

His eyes reflected nothing. Tartarus could not see himself in them. Not even light seemed to bounce off his irises. His eyes were those of a primordial. They swallowed all they saw. 

“What color do you bleed?” Tartarus asked the babe, now very intrigued.

With a single clawed finger, he pricked the babe’s palm. He honestly wasn’t sure if he was expecting mortal red or immortal gold. While the child wailed and a drop of blood oozed from his fresh wound, Tartarus pondered what the color of his blood meant. 

“There must be very big plans for you, little one.” Tartarus said, not gently but with less malice than before. “Let me see if I can send you on your way.”

Tartarus was not one to extend his power outward. He was content being down here, the waiting maw for monsters and immortals. But for the first time in many, many years, he reached upward. He traced the intangible trail left by the baby’s soul and found the source. An apartment in… oh he needed to brush up on his modern languages. It was some part of the new western world. 

“Well… off you go.” Tartarus said. He blew a breath on the baby and watched as it began dissolving into dust. 

“I doubt this will be the last time I see you, little one.” 

Already he could tell this one would be a troublemaker. For who, only the fates could determine. 

The baby continued to stare at him with wide, green eyes, and then he was gone. It was as if he had never existed and Tartarus had conjured up a physical form for no reason at all.

Back in the mortal world, Percy Jackson returned to his crib. He solidified from golden dust and breathed a fresh breath of life. His wound from his time in the pit was gone, as if he never left his home. 

It seemed like dying did young Percy some good. He came back a little stronger, put together a little bit better. The third of him that wasn’t supposed to exist in mortal flesh now bonded to his body more comfortably. 

In the morning, his mother would notice how much easier it was for him to breathe. She’d rejoice and smile and coo at her baby boy for how easily he could smile now.

But that was for later. Now, Percy Jackson was in the middle of meeting his second immortal family member. This time, it was someone much more closely related to him.

* * *

Poseidon had felt that his son was born premature and weak. A part of him was terrified that Percy wouldn’t survive. For months, he cursed himself for letting Sally walk away. (And it was she who truly left him, not the other way around.)

He had wanted to build her a palace under the sea. Make her immortal and give her a life of luxury. She was a queen among women, and she had stolen his heart. But Sally Jackson was also a woman of ambition, and lounging in paradise wouldn’t have suited her. So Poseidon made himself say goodbye with the promise he’d return for Percy one day. To claim him as his rightful son when the time was right. And maybe, to also try and court Sally again. 

Then came the horrible, horrible sensation of the world suddenly feeling empty and _wrong._ Percy carried a bit of Poseidon's blood in him, and ever since he was born, the sea god could vaguely feel where his child was. They were like two bodies of water each reaching for the other. Poseidon, the vast ocean, and Percy, the smallest of puddles. 

But the abrupt absence of that puddle threw the great ocean into disarray. Without warning, Poseidon fled from his palace beneath the waters and headed for New York City. Afraid that his worst fears had been realized, he materialized in Sally’s apartment.

He peered over the edge of the cradle housing his spawn…

and he heaved a sigh of relief. 

Little Perseus was still alive. And awake. He didn’t seem alarmed to find a strange man watching over him. He only stared at Poseidon with wide, curious eyes. 

With a start, the sea god realized this was the first time he was actually meeting his son. 

“H-hello, Perseus,” he said. He smiled and the baby smiled back. 

“What a scare you gave me,” he whispered. Poseidon lowered a hand into the cradle, amazed when Percy reached out and held onto his pointer finger. 

Poseidon chuckled. “Brave little thing, just like your mother.”

Percy made a cooing sound, his eyes gleaming bright green in the moonlight. From the slightest touch, the faintest connection between them, Poseidon could tell his son would be a great hero. 

Then his smile faded as he recalled the prophecy that hung over him and his brothers. 

_A child of the eldest gods…_

Percy was only a few months old, yet Poseidon knew his life would be fraught with danger and death. He ran his thumb over the back of Percy’s hand, wishing with all his heart that he could stay. 

“The sea does not like to be restrained,” he said into the dark, “you will know this someday, Percy.”

Against his better judgement, against the laws mandating he needed to separate himself from his child, Poseidon leaned down and pressed a kiss to his infant son’s forehead. 

“Sleep well, my son.”

* * *

Percy grew up as a boy shouldn’t have. He grew up with memories of a snake in his preschool cot and of tall, shadowy men watching him on playgrounds. He grew up seeing winged horses and other oddities in the sky. He grew up to his mom holding his hand tighter and hurrying him down the street at the sight of large, black dogs in alleyways. How she also saw them, he never questioned. 

Percy grew up to adults avoiding his eye and kids his age running away from him on playgrounds. He also grew up to his step-dad Smelly Gabe never being nice to him, but not being outright mean either. Most of the time, he just liked to pretend Percy didn’t exist at all. 

Percy grew up getting scrapes on his knees and paper cuts on his fingers like any other kid. But unlike other kids, Percy bled differently. His blood always came out a dark, dark red. So red it was almost black. In strong light, Percy swore he could see specks of metallic gold in his blood. He didn’t know why Mom was so scared when he scraped his knees until he saw her bleed. She had cut her finger while chopping vegetables and her blood came out a bright, vibrant red.

Percy grew up hiding his scrapes and scratches from playgrounds from his mom so she wouldn’t worry. Besides, his scrapes always healed quickly. He just had to run them under some water and they usually faded fast afterward. 

Percy grew up understanding that he was different. A problem child. A freak. The kid who no one liked. The only person who loved him and made him _feel_ loved was his mom. She was always so gentle with him, despite all the trouble he caused. She read him books from the library filled with drawings of anthropomorphic cats and dogs. She gave him little baggies of blue candy from the shop on the weeks she came home with a paycheck. 

When Percy was six and was kicked out of his first school (for supposedly flooding the bathroom), Mom wasn’t mad at him. She cried when she thought he wasn’t looking, but she smiled for him and ordered a pizza for dinner. That weekend, they went to the library. Smelly Gabe never went with them, and even though it was hard for Percy to read like other kids, he loved spending time with Mom. He expected more books with bright, colorful covers. Instead, Mom brought him over to a section of the library for adults. The words on the covers still floated around, but some floated… not less, but in a way that was easier to read? 

Mom checked out lots of books from that section and that night, spent hours entertaining Percy with stories of heroes with strange names. Heracles, Odysseus, and Perseus, the last of which he took a particular interest in. 

Percy soon learned to associate the winged horses in the sky with the mythical Pegasus. He learned that the heroes from all those old stories weren’t perfect. They behaved badly sometimes. They were mean or rude or they didn’t listen to others. They also did really cool things, like cutting off the heads of snake ladies. 

Soon enough, these ancient myths replaced the bedtime stories he used to enjoy. 

“None of them were perfect,” Mom once said, “but they were good heroes.”

It meant the world to Percy, who had been kicked out of two schools in two years. 

The fact that people still refused to meet his eye for very long became less of a thing he noticed and more of a thing he was used to. There were lots of things Percy was used to. No one spoke to him longer than necessary. No one was willing to pick schoolyard fights with him.

Three schools in three years. 

No one wanted to be his friend and no teacher thought of him as star student. 

Percy and his mom start making yearly trips to Montauk. Percy loved the ocean more than anything else and wanted to swim for hours. 

Four schools in four years. 

No one liked him more than the big, black dogs that tried to follow him home on the way from school. 

Sometimes, Percy fell asleep in the bathtub without even realizing it. Never longer than a few seconds, surely. 

Five schools in five years. 

Then he met his first friend ever. Grover was a really nervous kid who had a harder time than most even looking at Percy. But he was picked on a lot, so Percy wanted to try being his friend. He thought if Grover was around him, then no one would want to be around them both. 

Yancy Academy was also the first school with a teacher who seemed to go out of his way to pay attention to Percy. Mr. Brunner seemed fascinated by the instances when Percy was called on to answer questions on Greek and Roman mythology. He was _always_ correct, and could supply additional information without much difficulty. When asked where he learned, for the first time in his life, Percy was at the center of attention. The whole class looked at him, and he realized that, maybe, he knew things he shouldn’t have. Sure, kids who liked myths could name gods and heroes. But maybe they didn’t often know all the Muses, the names of obscure monsters, and some very minor gods. 

“My… my mom taught me,” he said.

Grover stared at him with a mix of surprise and admiration. Mr. Brunner stared at him like he wanted to put Percy under a microscope. The other kids in class gave Percy his second of fame before forgetting about him once more. 

But there was another teacher who gave him an unusually large amount of attention. Percy didn’t think Mrs. Dodds liked him, but she was almost fascinated by him. She looked like she wanted to sink his teeth into him like a cat with a mouse. 

Then the class went on their field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Percy lost his temper with Nancy Bobofit and _something_ happened. Something that, naturally, he was blamed for. The water in the fountain nearby exploded outward. The next thing he knew, Bobofit was soaking wet and shrieking. He thought Mrs. Dodds was pulling him aside to tell him off. Instead, she bared her teeth and asked him a very unusual (and maybe offensive?) question.

“Perseus Jackson, what _are_ you?”

His ADHD brain immediately went to the obscure fact that his mom was half-Korean, but he didn’t think that was what Dodds meant. 

“I don’t understand.”

She narrowed her eyes. 

“I can tell you’re human, but only partially so. You smell…” she smelled the air and momentarily looked confused, “...you smell like the abyss.”

 _Ok. Great._ Percy wanted to say. He had met teachers who did drugs before, and even though he didn’t peg Mrs. Dodds as that kind of gal, he really wanted to leave. But before he could try sprinting out of the empty museum exhibit, Dodds said something else that set him on edge. 

“You must know where it is. Tell me, and I will spare you.”

Welp. Maybe if Percy screamed loud enough, Mr. Brunner or museum security would get to him before his clearly-not-sober math teacher could try anything.

Then Dodds grew wings and actual fangs. 

Then Mr. Brunner appeared and threw him a pen that turned into a sword. 

Then Percy killed his math teacher. 

Then he was expelled.

Now it was six schools in six years. Percy really wanted to believe he was a good kid at heart, but he couldn’t even fool himself. His grades in the only class he did well in, Latin, started slipping. Before his final, he hoped he could talk to Mr. Brunner about apologizing for the terrible grade he was going to get. 

Percy overheard a very strange conversation on the way to Brunner’s office. 

_“He’s part human, I can tell.”_

That sounded like Grover. 

_“As can I. The trip to the museum proved it, he’s not a monster.”_

Percy’s stomach sank. Maybe he should have been flattered, but he only felt dread.

 _“We’ll need to bring him to camp,”_ Grover said. 

_“Agreed. Tomorrow-”_

Percy didn’t want to hear any more. He left. 

He went home the next day. 

He and his mom went to Montauk. Grover found them. They got chased by the actual Minotaur. 

Percy watched his mom die. 

He killed the Minotaur with its own horn, but not before being gouged by its other one. Percy bled out under the pine tree on the hill, Grover unconscious but hopefully alive somewhere nearby. 

Percy felt cold. His body felt so light. He closed his eyes. 

_Ah, you again._ A voice said. Percy couldn’t open his eyes. 

_You’re older now. You… hm, strange…_

_I wonder..._

Percy woke up to a very pretty blonde girl his age spoon feeding him in bed. 

“You drool in your sleep.”

Turned out the gods were real. So were all the heroes from the stories Mom told him. Knowing this did nothing to console Percy over his mother’s death. 

A small part of him hoped that he’d find camaraderie among other half-bloods. Especially Luke, the cool camp counselor who seemed to regard Percy with more genuine kindness than pity. To his silent dismay, Percy found that people still avoided his gaze. They mostly still skirted away from him. 

At least Luke was fascinated by how Percy could disarm him with so little training. 

And Clarisse hated his guts for drenching her in toilet water. That had to count for something.

Annabeth was able to look him in the eye via sheer force of will, but she didn’t seem to like it. 

“You could be the child of a powerful minor god, like Nemesis,” she said to him one day, “it would explain your appearance.”

“Um, okay.” Percy wasn’t in the mood to mention his mortal parent was his mom.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “You’re not easy to look at, Percy. But in a powerful way. When I look at you, I always get a feeling of dread… or like I’m hopelessly lost. It’s unnerving, and it could save your life in a fight one day.”

“Awesome,” Percy said. _Thanks for the diagnosis._

Then Annabeth invited him to be on her team for Capture the Flag. 

Percy got gutted by Clarisse’s spear. She seemed to be able to push past his unnerving aura by pure rage alone. It was okay though, because the water healed him and a glowing green trident appeared over his head. 

Poseidon. Earthshaker. Lord of Horses. God of seas and storms.

Percy could have laughed. A sign his father existed after twelve years of no birthday cards, fishing trips, or homework tips. He was liking being a half-blood less and less. He also accepted his quest to go west only because he was determined to find his mom in the underworld. His dad and the rest of the Olypians could fuck off for all he cared. 

Being out in the world, Percy’s power was tested time and time again. It wasn’t necessarily the monsters that challenged him, but the gods. Ares and his side quest, Hephaestus and his death traps, nearly being killed while in Hades. 

The winged shoes Luke gave to Percy, only for him to give to Grover, nearly dragged his best friend into Tartarus. While Annabeth and Grover were more than happy to leave the pit and head for Hades’ palace, Percy froze for a moment. He stood at the very edge of Tartarus and looked down into the darkness. He couldn’t see anything, but it was like something alive was pulling him in, continuously inhaling. It was… well, it was familiar.

He thought he heard the rumble of a man laughing. 

“Percy, what are you doing? Let’s go!” Annabeth said. 

Percy turned from the pit. He went to his uncle’s palace and found that he had been set up, the master bolt in his possession the entire time. The prophecy Percy received came true and in the end, he fled from Hades without his mother, the goal that had mattered most to him.

He met Ares on the beach after escaping the underworld and Percy confronted the war god without fear. 

“You set us up!”

“Obviously.”

He really hated how casual the gods were about sending him to his death. As Percy readied himself for his first real fight with a god, Ares seemed to study him. He nudged his ray-bans down and stared at Percy with his eyes made of fire and fury. 

“You know, the longer I look at you, the more I think you can’t be Poseiodon’s spawn. I mean, no offense to dear old Uncle, but you got something else going on with you.”

Percy bared his teeth. Ares was just another bully calling him a freak. 

“Yeah… you’re definitely something else. You’re…”

For half a second, it looked like Ares seemed confused. Maybe even afraid. Then he pushed his sunglasses back up and hefted his metal baseball bat. It turned into a bronze sword and hissed as wisps of smoke curled off of it. 

“I’m gonna enjoy pounding you into dust,” Ares said.

_Likewise._

As they fought, Percy could feel his inhibitions melting away. He had just finished a sprint across the entire country, only to find that he’d been backstabbed and lied to. If everyone was intent on believing he was some freak of nature, he’d show Ares what he was really made of.

The ocean bent to Percy’s will and gave him strength. As his sword clashed with Ares’ own, the very earth itself shook. At first, Percy thought that it was Ares doing it. When the sand beneath him began being sucked into a crack in the earth, he realized it was _him._

An earthshaker, just like his dad. 

Cornered by the ocean on one side and the crack in the earth on the other, Ares bared his teeth and charged. Percy inhaled sharply. The earth did the same, shuddering as its open maw stretched wider. 

Ares lost his footing. He- he didn’t _fall_ so much as look like he was being sucked toward the fault in the sand. And as Percy breathed in, feeling the earth itself bend and break to his will, he felt something inside himself snap. Not like pulling a muscle, but something far more profound. It was like dislodging something in his throat that had been stuck all his life, and he didn’t even know it. Percy felt… he felt stronger than he ever knew possible. 

But Percy couldn’t inhale, couldn’t pull at the edges of the world, forever. Ares stopped sliding backward. While he was still down, Percy managed to wound him. Ares roared so loud, Percy would have been surprised if the gods on the other side of the country hadn’t heard it. 

“You… you will pay for this, Perseus Jackson.” Ares said, panting as he stood. He was still bleeding gold from the wound above his ankle. Ares met his eye and paused. He smiled, cruel and mean. Then the war god laughed. 

“By the looks of it, you already have. See you around, kid.”

Then he was gone.

The ocean quieted and the crack in the earth closed. Percy frowned as he turned to his friends. 

“What do you think he meant by that?”

Annabeth gaped at him. Grover actually took a step back and averted his gaze. 

“Guys?”

“P-Percy…” Grover said, “your eyes…”

“Nevermind that,” Annabeth said, snapping back into focus, “the Mist will hide it from mortals. We need a way back to New York _asap.”_

Percy touched the corner of his eye. He didn’t _feel_ any different. He soon forgot about his eyes, because he had far more important things to worry about. He had a master bolt to return to one king of the gods. And what happened upon his arrival at Olympus? 

Even after succeeding in his quest, even after beating the odds of finding the bolt and preventing a god-level nuclear war, Percy had to thank Zeus for not killing him on the spot. 

“Your spawn is an abomination, look at him,” Zeus said, sounding awfully similar to Percy’s last principal. 

“How dare you speak of him like that, and after all he’s done for you?”

Being alone in the throne room of the gods with his dad and his uncle was becoming more and more uncomfortable. 

“He might have retrieved my bolt, but there is something in him that is neither god nor mortal.” Zeus gave his brother a hard stare, “And you know this too.”

Poseidon didn’t respond right away. Percy dared to hope that for the first time in his life, he’d be accepted and called normal. 

“He is still my son, and regardless of his nature, I refuse to renounce my claim over him.”

And maybe Uncle Hades would take Percy back if he jumped off Olympus then and there. 

The two gods held a silent argument, each glaring at the other, until Zeus relented. 

“You will claim responsibility for his future actions?” Zeus asked, “Whatever they may be?”

“Yes,” Poseidon said without hesitation.

“Very well.” Zeus stood from his throne and vanished in a burst of light. 

When the room dimmed again, Percy was alone with his father. Poseidon rose and came to stand before Percy. 

“Make no mistake, Percy. You’ve done well today.”

Percy felt the bitterness from twelve long years of growing up without a dad come bubbling back up, “But I’m not normal, not even for a demigod. Aren’t I?”

Poseidon spoke with an uncertain smile, “No, Percy. I can see it in your eyes. You’ve inherited a great deal of power. The fates must have big plans for you.”

Poseidon moved as if to put his hand on Percy’s shoulder, but then hesitated. His hand fell. He said, “You’ll be unlike any hero who has come before you. You will be something entirely new.”

Percy didn’t know if he found that comforting or not.  
  
“Thanks.”

He turned and made to leave. 

“Remember that the sea does not like to be restrained,” Poseidon called after him. 

Percy stopped. He’s heard those words before. He recalled the faintest memory of a warm smile and sea green eyes. Percy turned back to his dad and found Posdeion smiling more confidently now. 

“Thanks, dad.”

Poseidon nodded to him. 

Back in the mortal world, Percy couldn’t have been happier to see his mom again. She looked the same as the day he thought she died. She smiled despite the tears in her eyes. Despite Percy looking like he’d been through hell (literally), she cupped his face and peppered him in kisses. She even looked into his eyes and she stared at Percy with only love and warmth. In that moment, Percy remembered that this was what he had been fighting for. His human half and his human mom. 

“Percy, I’m so glad you’re alright,” Mom said. 

“I know, I- I’m sorry. I-” Percy felt the tears welling in his eyes. Mom shushed him and brushed aside his tears. 

“Shh, shh Percy,” Mom said, “You did so well. You’re _alive._ But…”

She hesitated. 

“But?” Percy asked. 

Mom pushed the stray locks of hair from his face. “You know, it’s your choice to come back home at the end of summer. But if you wanted to, you could stay at camp year round.”

Mom had always been able to look Percy in the eye. But now that he was looking at her more closely, he found that she seemed to be having trouble maintaining eye contact. Her eyes kept wanting to dart off to the side every few seconds. 

“I think… I think you’d be safest if you stayed at camp, Percy.”

Percy felt a flash of dread cut through him. 

“No."

“Percy.”

“I won’t leave you!” 

“You can come back for holidays, Percy. It won’t be goodbye forever.”

Percy shook his head, suddenly feeling sick. How could his own mom want him gone so badly?

“But- but what about school?” 

Not that Percy ever truly cared about his education, but Mom wouldn’t want him to just stop going to school, right? 

(He ignored the fact that he’d already been sent to boarding schools more than once now.)

Percy just couldn’t imagine going away again.

“Chiron has told me about his tutoring program at camp. It’s like homeschooling. You’d get about the same level of education as kids who- who go home at the end of summer.”

“But…” 

Percy then remembered all the years Mom had been trying to save up money for night classes. How she couldn’t because of Gabe, but also because of himself. At least they had Medusa’s severed head to get rid of Gabe, but Percy?

“You want me to stay at camp?”  
  
“I want you to be safe, Percy. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

Percy bit his lower lip and nodded. “Alright, Mom. Okay.”

Mom looked relieved. Not happy that he was going, but happy that he’d be somewhere that suited him. They spent a while packing away most of Percy’s clothes and belongings. While Mom called camp to arrange for Argus to pick Percy up from home, he went to the bathroom and locked the door. Percy splashed some cold water on his face and took a deep breath. He braced his hands on the sink, then lifted his head. 

He immediately knew why everyone thought he was a freak.

His eyes… they weren’t human anymore. Not by a long shot.

He had lost the whites of his eyes. Now, there were roiling hues of green and blue. Like a turbulent ocean, or a nebula. The hues of sea green and deep blue clashed and fused, funnelling into black pits where his pupils should have been.

Percy touched the corner of his eye and felt like crying. He still felt like himself, but some part of him had been chipped away. His dad was right, he was something new. Something wrong. Something that shouldn’t exist. 

Percy went back to his room and tore open his closet and dresser to search for something to cover his eyes. He found a pair of old, scratched sunglasses, but the lenses were tinted blue and it’d be impossible to see his eyes past them. They’d do. 

Mom didn’t say anything when he came out of his room with them on, and he was thankful for it. When Argus came to bring him back to camp, Percy hugged his mom outside their apartment building. 

“You can come home for thanksgiving, you know that right?”  
  
“I know.” He pressed his face against her shoulder, wishing his sunglasses weren’t in the way. She ran her fingers through his hair. 

“H-have fun at camp, Percy.”

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Argus loaded his backpack and two duffle bags into the van. After years of moving from school to school, some boarding and some not, Percy had learned to pack light.

He stared at Mom as she waved him goodbye. He waved back, and then he was on his way to Camp Half-Blood. He returned to a hero’s welcome, with a laurel wreath in his hair and campfire songs lead in his honor. Percy noticed that with his shades on, people were more likely to approach him. After a few days, the hype died down and Percy was just another camper. Thank gods. 

When summer came close to its end, Percy found himself sitting at the edge of the dock with Annabeth. With their shoes off, their feet could just reach the water. Annabeth asked, “So are you going back to live with your mom?”

Percy hadn’t brought up his living plans on purpose. Chiron knew, but he hadn’t wanted anyone else to find out. 

“I’m actually going to stay year round.”  
  
Annabeth looked surprised. “Oh.”

“Why? What’s the matter?”

“It’s funny,” Annabeth said, “I actually decided to try living with my dad again.”

“Oh.”

So even though Percy was staying, they were going their separate ways. 

“Yeah,” Annabeth said. 

“We’ll still be friends?”  
  
“Of course, seaweed brain.” 

Percy cracked a smile. “Good. I… I wouldn’t want you to think you’ve gotten rid of me, wise girl.”

Annabeth snorted and shoved his shoulder. “I actually have something for you.”

Percy was wondering what the little thing Annabeth brought was. She handed it to him. He turned the mysterious package wrapped in brown paper over in his hands. 

“What is it?”

“Open it and see.”

Percy tore at the paper wrapping and found a clear plastic case beneath. Inside it was a new pair of sunglasses. They had the same kind of tinted, reflective lenses, but looked a lot newer than the ones Percy wore now.

“They’re just a pair from the camp store, but they’re waterproof. Which, you know, I figured was more your style.”

Percy couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks, Annabeth.”

He touched his sunglasses, then hesitated. 

“Go ahead,” she said.

Percy quickly took off his old shades and tried the new ones on. He tried to crack a smile. 

“So, do I look any cooler?”

Annabeth stared at him and started laughing. “Oh my gods, you have such bad tan lines from your sunglasses.”

She snorted, “You look like a raccoon!”

It took a second for Percy to realize she was making fun of him without any real malice. He found himself laughing with her.

When they calmed down, Annabeth said, “But seriously, Percy. I don’t care what anyone else thinks of you. You’re my friend.”

“Thanks, Annabeth.”

Even though Annabeth was leaving, Percy was relieved to know he wasn’t going to be left alone with Clarisse all year. He thought Luke would have his back. 

Then Luke brought him to the woods on the last day of summer. And Luke revealed the little fact that he was the lightning thief. 

“Why?” It was all Percy wanted to know. 

“It’s because the gods have never cared about us, Percy. I’ve been here since I was a kid, and what did I ever get for it?” Luke sneered, his scar making him look that much meaner, “They’ve never been on our side. But Kronos has promised me a new world, a better one. A world where there won’t be any gods at all.”

Luke’s eyes flickered from Percy toward the pit scorpion crawling up his leg. He bit his lower lip. 

“I’m sorry, Percy. But some things just have to be done.”

Luke left him in the woods. 

Percy killed the scorpion, but not without being stung himself. 

He thought the water would heal him. He thought he’d be safe. 

It wasn’t enough. 

Percy died before he could make it to the edge of the woods. 

_Back so soon, little one?_

Percy could hear a voice. He couldn’t open his eyes and he couldn’t move, and for a moment, he thought he was dreaming. 

_What trouble you’ve been stirring._

The voice speaking to him didn’t sound like the one from the pit. It didn’t sound like Kronos either. It spoke in English and ancient Greek at once, the layers of his voice disjointed as if it were many different echos sounding off at once. 

_Who are you?_ Percy wanted to ask. Where was he?

_I see that you’ve chipped away at your mortal self while you’ve been gone. I wonder what you will become now…_

_No,_ Percy wanted to say, _What’s happening to me?_

_This is not where you belong. Not yet. Go now, child. And don’t forget to wreak a little more chaos for me._

Percy felt more than heard a rumbling laugh, not unkind, feeling it vibrating in his own chest. He woke with a start, sitting up by the side of the creek where he remembered passing out. He stared at his palm, but only a faint scar remained from his scorpion sting. He suddenly felt sick. Percy fled from the woods to inform Chiron that Luke was the lightning thief. 

It was the last day of summer, and all Percy had hoped for was even a moment of peace. But his hopes had been shattered before they even solidified. 

It seemed like now, there was only more work to do. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments always appreciated :)


	2. feel what can't be known

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm continuing this AU! Not exactly in a coherent story, but I really want to explore the ways canon would change with Percy being 1/3 abomination. For now, this short chapter takes place directly after the last, but I have more planned that will take place later on in Percy's life.

It turned out that losing a part of himself to Ares was the least of what Percy would lose. 

The day summer ended was one of the strangest in Percy’s life. Most of the campers exited the magic border, some alone but most in groups, in a mass exodus that made Percy’s stomach churn. He wanted to be one of them. He wanted to be the Stoll brothers heading for their shared flight home. He wanted to be the Aphrodite kids with luxury suitcases being loaded onto a van by Argus. He wanted to be one of the campers with mortal parents who came to pick them up. He wanted to be Annabeth, whose family was waiting for her just outside the magic border. 

But here he was. Betrayed by Luke, left behind by Annabeth and Grover. Alone. Sitting against the side of his cabin as he watched the stragglers leaving. The sun was close to setting, and the Harpies were soon going to be free to eat the unauthorized kids who remained. If there even were any.

“Percy?”

He startled, surprised to find Silena Beauregard, one of the Aphrodite kids, standing off to the side. She was a year or two older than him, and had the same sort of prettiness as her siblings: a kind face and eyes that changed color. 

“Hi, Silena.” 

Some kids still tried to avoid Percy, and it sometimes made him wonder if his unnerving aura extended past his eyes, but Silena had always been nice to him. 

“Are you staying for the year?” she asked. Percy nodded. Feeling awkward, he stood up so they could be eye to eye. 

“You’re also one of the kids that stays?” Percy asked. For some reason, he found it hard to believe. 

Silena nodded. “My dad died a few years ago, so I’ve been staying year round since then.”   
  
“Oh- uh, sorry,” Percy said, kicking himself for his eloquence.

Silena seemed to take it in stride, “It’s alright. I just didn’t expect you to also be staying.”

She seemed to hesitate before saying, “It’s not bad, you know. Sometimes it can feel lonely, but it’s also a lot of fun to stay year round.”

“Who else will be here?” Percy suddenly wanted to know. This wasn’t like boarding school, this year was just going to be him and a literal handful of other campers. 

“Clarisse stays year round, and I think she’s been here for almost as long as Annabeth,” Silena said, counting on her fingers, “there’s also some other Ares kids, me and Charlie, the Stolls don’t have the most consistent home life, but it looks like they’ve gone back this year… Castor and Pollux stay because of their dad, and a few newer campers.”

“And me,” Percy said. 

“And you.”

There were only ten or so campers left. Camp Half-Blood was already so quiet. No distant shouts from the arena, no reed pipe songs from the strawberry field, no whinnying pegasi gliding overhead. 

“We year-rounders have a bonfire party that lasts until curfew, the day everyone else goes home,” Silena said, “you should join us.”

Percy realized with a start that he was actively being given the choice to join in with the others. Not because they felt obligated to, not because they had to, but because they wanted him around.

But Percy’s head was still reeling from Luke’s revelation, from being poisoned by a scorpion, from watching his two closest friends leave camp, and a part of him just wanted to be alone. 

“I’ll see,” he said, “I’m just tired, you know?”   
  
Silena didn’t seem to take it personally. “No problem. See you around, Percy.”   
  
“Right,” he said. 

Silena left and he was all alone again. Percy retreated to his cabin, but stopped in the doorway. 

He didn’t want to hide from the others and mope all night. His fingers itched for his sword. He felt mad at himself for being so easily caught off guard by a scorpion of all things. Not even a man-sized, acid spitting one. Just a tiny bug that nearly got the best of him. 

Percy recalled that dizzying sensation between when he was stung and when he sprinted to find Chiron to tell him about Luke. Like he passed out, but worse. His whole body had felt weightless for a second, and he couldn’t believe he lucked out by surviving.

Percy left his cabin, his pen in his hand as he headed for the arena. He grabbed some armor and found with complete relief that the arena was empty. Live opponents were better for testing his skill, but Percy didn’t come for training. He came to hack some straw dummies apart.

The first few flew apart in flurries of stuffing. Percy moved on to some armored ones that were tougher to take apart. For a long while, all he could hear was the deafening grind of bronze blade on bronze armor. That, and his own labored breathing. 

“Percy?”

He paused. Chiron was standing at the entrance to the arena, looking pensive. Percy pulled his helmet off, grimacing at the sensation of his sweat-matted hair being grazed by the wind. 

“Chiron?”

His teacher seemed upset by something.    
  
“You may have recovered from your scorpion sting, but you shouldn’t push yourself.”

At that, Percy felt angry. Irrationally so.

“But it’s my fault Luke got away!” 

“Percy-”

“A stupid scorpion nearly killed me too, and there was nothing I could do about it!”

Anger welled up inside of him, but along with something else. Discontentment? Hurt? Fear?

Longing?   
  
“I…” Percy paused. He was not going to do this. He was not going to cry in front of his teacher. After twelve years of surviving shit hole public schools, prison-like boarding schools, and even more prison-like military schools, he was not going to cry in front of Chiron. 

“Percy?” Chiron asked softly. 

He lowered his sword. Percy said, in a quiet voice, “I want...”

_ I want to go home. _

Two hands fell upon his shoulders. “It’s alright, Percy. There is nothing you cannot tell me.”

But it was stupid. Percy knew why his mom sent him to live at camp year-round. He knew it was for the best, but it didn’t change anything. 

He swallowed the lump in his throat. “I- I want you to train me so good that I wipe the floor with Luke the next time I see him.”

Chiron gave him that pensive stare again. “If that’s what you desire.”

Percy thought that Chiron would leave him alone after that. Instead, the centaur said, “But remember this well, Percy. You and your namesake, the original Perseus, were given a name that means _ destroyer. _ And your father is lord of both storms and earthquakes.”   
  
Chiron gently squeezed his shoulders, his brown eyes piercing Percy to his core. In that instant, Percy saw the thousands of years Chiron had taught heroes. Thousands of years worth of seeing them die before their time, either killed by enemies or their own recklessness. And Percy almost felt bad for yelling at him.

“It is no secret you’ve been blessed with immense power yet to be, but you cannot become your own ruining, Percy.”

His sword suddenly felt heavy in his hand. Percy lowered his head and lifted his sunglasses just enough to wipe his eyes with his palm. 

“Chiron, I-” Percy shook his head. A part of him suspected he didn’t survive his scorpion sting. Or being gouged by the minotaur early in the summer. A part of him suspected his dreams weren’t just hallucinations, and that there was a voice who really did speak to him between his moments alive and dead. 

But then that would mean he was much less human than he first thought.

“Chiron, I just want to know what I am.”

Percy received the answer he least wanted.

“You will figure it out in due time, Percy. But you must be patient first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Up next, I have an idea about how to bring Tyson into the story.


	3. isle unto thyself i

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to post this chapter a little early, seeing as how the next one will probably be pretty long and take a while to write. (And don't worry, I plan on making the story take on a much darker tone soon.)
> 
> But I really do love Tyson as a character, and even though I want to keep this fic Percy-centric, I couldn't resist adding a little bit of his cyclops brother to the mix. Hope you enjoy! 
> 
> (Title from the Miracle Musical song of the same name.)

This was something Percy was dreading. The winter field trip to Olympus. He’d heard about it from Annabeth, but now he was actually one of the kids going. And at first, he had begged Chiron to let him stay at the camp. 

He was met only with his teacher’s stern but fatherly look. He told Percy, “Staying here? Entirely by yourself? Come now, Percy, a chance to leave the camp grounds will be good for you.”

It was true that Percy hadn’t been adjusting well to being at camp full time. He had nightmares almost every night, of indescribable darkness and dread. He sometimes screamed in his sleep so loud, it woke the Ares kids next door. More than once, Clarisse had burst through his cabin door in the dead of night, half in pajamas and half in armor, ready for a fight. (Her dad was still a sore spot between them, but Clarisse was always willing to fling herself into danger.) 

Going home for Thanksgiving for a few days was the best time of Percy’s life, but it hadn’t lasted long enough. 

The solstice this year was on December twenty second. Though Percy had been told kids who celebrated Hanukkah or Christmas usually did so at camp, Chiron offered him a deal. Come to Olympus, and Argus would drive him home to spend the holiday with his family for a few days. 

Percy reluctantly agreed. And that was how he got stuffed into the camp bus along with the ten other year-rounders, plus Argus and Chiron. Clarisse and Silena were sitting in the front row, playfully bickering over what music to listen to. Most of the group wanted cheery holiday pop crap, while Clarisse wanted rock music. Percy sat at the back of the van next to Beckendorf, forehead pressed against the cold glass while he let the conversation flow over him. 

Someone nudged his side. 

“Hey, Percy. This isn’t your first time to Olympus, right?” Beckendorf asked. 

“Huh? No, I went once during the summer.” 

On his quest. Gods, even though he and Annabeth kept in touch via email, it almost hurt to not have her at camp with him. 

“You should see Olympus in the winter, though. Snow everywhere, but still warm enough to walk around without a jacket on. And there are these little silver lights hung up for the solstice.”

Percy got the feeling Beckendorf wanted to cheer him up. When the summer bled away to fall, Percy got self conscious about wearing sunglasses all the time. He tried to take them off for a few days, but as soon as he did, other campers started skirting around him again. Even Clarisse had a hard time mustering up the energy to bully him. So, sunglasses with his winter parka and snow boots. 

Percy still wasn’t good at making friends, apparently. Not even with the other year-rounders. 

“Don’t worry, Percy. It’ll be fun,” Beckendorf said. Thankfully, he left Percy alone after that. 

He must have dozed off after that, not fully falling asleep, because the next thing he knew, the bus had stopped and Percy could hear the rustling of winter clothes. He opened his eyes and sat up straight. Everyone was getting off the bus, so he followed. 

_ Please,  _ Percy wanted to pray,  _ don’t let me see my dad. Or Zeus.  _

But he didn’t, because there wasn’t really anyone he could pray to other than the gods. His dad probably meant well, but Percy just didn’t want to deal with him now. And of course, how could he forget about how the king of the gods wanted him dead? 

The elevator inside the Empire State Building was magically large enough to accommodate the entire group, plus their overnight bags, in one trip. When the elevator stopped, Percy found that Beckendorf hadn’t been lying. The whole of Olympus sparkled with white snow. Little balls of silver fire hung in the air and seemed to bathe everything in an ethereal glow. 

“Come now, everyone, to the guest houses.” Chiron said. He stepped out of his wheelchair, which Argus folded and tucked under one arm. He led the group through the streets of Olympus, and Percy found himself wanting to stray away to take in everything around him. Though his shades made Olympus look more shadowed than it probably was, it was still gorgeous.

Percy hadn’t realized he was starting to lag behind the group until he turned a corner and bumped into someone.    
  
“Oh, sorry!”

He looked at the girl he walked into, maybe eleven or twelve. She had the youthful appearance and bright auburn hair of the nymphs Percy knew from camp. Her eyes briefly flickered over his form.

“I accept your apology, Perseus Jackson.”   


Okay, so she was probably not a nymph. Maybe a minor goddess? Her silvery eyes and clothes gave Percy the impression he just bumped into someone he shouldn’t have. She gave him that same aura of power Mr. D sometimes did. 

Still, he couldn’t resist correcting her. “I go by just Percy, actually.”

The barest ghost of a smile graced her lips. “ _ Just _ Percy? It’s so rare to find a humble boy nowadays.”

She laughed quietly, though Percy was lost. The girl started to move around him. 

“I suspect we will meet again some day, Percy. I don’t doubt your reputed penchant for trouble.”

She left Percy and he had to hurry to meet up with the rest of the group. But as they approached where Percy assumed they’d be sleeping, he couldn’t get the girl’s words out of his head.

_ Penchant for trouble? _

Great. Did Percy earn himself a bad rap even among the gods?   
  
Then again, he did beat Ares in a battle once. 

He decided to shove that idea out of his head as he was led to the boy’s guest house. Percy set his bag down on a bunk bed remarkably similar to those from camp. Beckendorf tossed his bag on the bunk above Percy’s. Mr. D’s kids set up across from them, but the two boys from the Ares cabin set up as far from Percy as possible. Guess they knew better than the rest how annoying his night terrors could be. 

For a second, white hot embarrassment flooded through him at the idea of waking up all the other guys because he couldn’t handle some bad dreams. Maybe Olympus didn’t have night harpies who ate people out past curfew, and maybe Percy could find a nice bench to sleep on. 

_ Please, _ Percy purposely prayed to no one in particular,  _ let me survive this trip without embarrassing myself.  _

It was just one night, he told himself as the group regathered to tour Olympus. There was a coffee shop run by nymphs that sold the best tasting peppermint hot chocolate Percy ever had. They walked past a small park where Percy could see people ice skating across a pond. Soft, upbeat music always seemed to be playing, but Percy couldn’t pinpoint the source. Chiron ended the tour at a pavilion with marble statues of all the Olympians. 

“And are some of the most well preserved statues from the ancient world, the favorite keepsakes of the gods from the olden times.”

Huh. Mr. D had a hell of a six-pack back then. Percy’s eyes scanned over the rest of the statues until he found his dad. Ignoring the fact that the statue’s dick was out and he really didn’t want to see that, Percy found himself surprised by how much it resembled Poseidon. Or rather, how little his father changed over the years. 

At that point, the group was free to explore Olympus within reason. No going inside the throne room, obviously. The gods would commence their yearly winter meeting soon and Percy was relieved to know he wouldn’t be bumping into dear old dad at any point in this trip.

But Percy really wasn’t in the mood to wander around Olympus either, so he chugged the rest of his hot chocolate and split from the group. Figuring that everyone else would be busy for at least a few hours, Percy decided now was a great time to take a nap. At least then, he could stay up all night so he could avoid making his nightmares a public nuisance. 

He went back to the guest houses and burrowed under the covers. Surprisingly, the bed was way softer than the bunks at camp, and the sheets felt light and fluffy. Even then, they pressed down on Percy like a weighted blanket. He imagined them becoming even heavier, and they did. Percy exhaled with relief and closed his eyes. 

His dreams were the same as before. Feeling as his body was taken apart atom by atom, dissolved into dust and sent scattering through the cosmos. But every single fragment of him yearned to be joined with the others, so he screamed with his billions of tiny voices, desperately searching for the rest of himself. He had no eyes, but he could see from countless different perspectives the same infinite abyss. Nebulas that would make Earth look like a pebble, stars so big and bright they could swallow the master bolt’s power with ease, and the debris from a million planets blown up by suns over the eons. 

Looking at all of that might’ve seemed cool at first. And it was, to Percy. For the first few minutes on the first night his dreams started. But then they distorted themselves until Percy found himself locked in a nightmare. The infinitesimal bits of himself floated farther and farther away from each other. 

And over the course of both a few seconds and millions of years, some of himself would be compacted to form a new star, some swallowed by black holes, some used to make dust that made stone that made a planet that made life that took the Percy-bits of dust-stone-planet and turned it into grass that got eaten by an animal that got eaten by a human-

So on and so forth. 

But all the while, he would be shrieking his head off, wailing in agony as his body was used and abused by the universe in billions of different ways. No part of him knew rest, no part of him could even hope to be reunited with any other bit of himself. Percy was an ever-expanding voice screaming across the entire universe, begging someone,  _ anyone,  _ to help him be whole again.

But no one ever heard him.

Percy’s eyes snapped open and he choked on a scream as he sat up in bed. For a single horrifying second, he didn’t know where he was. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to think. 

He was on Olympus. He was on Earth. He was one. He was whole. 

Percy exhaled. He had no idea how long he was asleep, probably not for long given that he was still alone. He leaned over the side of the bunk and rummaged through his bag until he found what he was looking for. 

It was a photo of Annabeth that she had sent him early in the fall. She was at some museum, smiling at the camera. Percy stared at the photo and had to remind himself that he wasn’t a billion bits of nothing floating through the cosmos. He was real. He was a person with a face and a name. And he had people who cared about him, too.

He carefully hid the photo at the bottom of his bag and left the guest house. He found the others soon enough, gathered in a pavilion for what looked like dinner. Chiron seemed pleased to see him. 

“Ah, Percy! Have you been enjoying Olympus so far?”   
  
Percy nodded and sat down at the end of the table. He ate without really tasting, just wanting to get some food in him. 

He felt someone kick him under the table. It was Clarisse. 

“You’re on Olympus for a few hours and you’re already starting rumors?”

“What do you mean?”

She rolled her eyes. “The nymphs and satyrs here are even worse gossips than at camp. They’re all talking about how you’ve offended the goddess Artemis.”

Percy’s brain was nothing but TV static for a few seconds. Then he remembered the girl he bumped into. 

He swallowed and took a sip of his cherry coke. “I think if I offended her, I would have been turned into a jackalope. Or torn apart by wolves.”

He knew the stories about Artemis. He knew what happened to guys who pissed her off. (Which made it sort of embarrassing that he didn’t recognize her immediately.)

Percy finished his meal and the group started heading back to the guest houses together. It was starting to get dark (and if Apollo was inside the throne room, then who was driving the sun?), and Percy hoped his nap was enough to help keep him awake through the night. 

Just his luck, as they walked through the circular plaza outside the throne room, the gold doors burst open with a gust of warm air. And out came the gods, maybe for a snack break or something. Percy spotted the girl from before, and she looked pissed as a tan, blond guy in socks and sandals talked her ear off. Artemis and Apollo, if he had to guess.

Behind them, Percy saw a hint of a blue from the corner of his eye and ducked his head down. He hurried with the group as they skirted around the gods and headed in for the night. 

Thankfully, he had plenty to distract himself with. The group roasted marshmallows over a bronze basin of fire and told scary stories for a while. After that, Percy and the guys stayed up for a few more hours to play card games. They sat on the floor of their guest house, using whatever they could find as prize money: leftover marshmallows, spare change, drachmas, and a bag of nectar-infused candy Castor and Pollux got from one of the shops. 

By the time everyone was exhausted, including Percy, it was early in the morning. Around one or two am, if he had to guess. Percy got dressed in loose sweatpants and a t-shirt, crawled into bed, but he refused to let himself sleep. 

Once the lights went out and the cabin started filling with the sound of snoring, Percy readied himself to slip outside. He carefully got out of his bunk, taking his hoodie and sunglasses from his open bag, right on top of his clothes where he made certain they’d be easy to grab. Then, praying that no alarm would go off, he opened the door to the guest house. There was nothing, so Precy slipped outside. 

He’d gotten good at the climbing wall at camp, graduating to the full lava flow and with half the footholds as usual. So with his training, it wasn’t hard at all to climb his way up a marble column and reach the flat roof of the guest house. Even though it was the middle of the night, Olympus was still bright and lively. The silvery lights glowed in the distance, and Percy felt comfortable enough to enjoy the view without his shades on.

“Can’t sleep?”

He startled, turning around and reaching for his pants pocket. He pulled out riptide before he realized who it was. Poseidon stood at the other end of the roof, dressed in beige pants, black rubber boots, and a blue fisherman’s sweater. Even in the faint glow of the night, his eyes were a bright sea green.

“Lord Poseidon?”

They spoke once before, but he still wasn’t sure how formal he had to be with his own father.

“You can call me dad, Perseus.”

“And you can call me Percy, dad.”

Poseidon laughed and the sound carried the thrum of breaking waves with it. He walked over to Percy and sat down next to him.

“How has living at camp treated you?”

_ Great. _ Percy wanted to say, _ Instead of monsters accidentally finding me at school, I can go into the woods to find  _ them.

Most of the campers could actually attend boarding schools in the city while coming home to camp on weekends or holidays. Not Percy. Monsters followed him more than ever, way too often to ever let him attend an ordinary school again. 

But instead of all that, he said, “It’s fine.”

His dad gave him a look that bordered dangerously close on pity. 

“And you… you’ve been enjoying your time there?”

Percy got a flashback to his last call home to Mom, whose voice still shook whenever Percy mentioned wanting to come home.

“It’s fine, dad. I’m okay.”

If Percy wasn’t going to bother his mom with his nightmares, he sure wouldn’t kick off his first ever dad-son bonding exercise with it either. But to his surprise, the silence stretched between him and his dad. Percy half expected Poseidon to suddenly say he needed to go do some godly shit and disappear in a burst of light. 

Percy was also bad at dealing with silences. So he asked, “Do you, you know, have somewhere else you need to be?”

His dad hardly looked upset. He shook his head. “For the solstices, I often clear my schedule for at least a few days. Squabbles between immortal family members often don’t end quickly.”

Percy knew that fact well. If his dad wasn’t here to dispense some godly wisdom, then he assumed there was something else Poseidon wanted to talk about. 

“You need me to go on a quest for you?”

Maybe this time, someone stole the sea god’s signature trident. 

His dad looked surprised. “Is it too much to imagine I wanted to visit my son?”

Kinda, yeah. Gods weren’t supposed to win dad-of-the-year awards. 

“Percy, I meant what I said to you the last time we spoke. Regardless of who you are, I will not renounce my claim over you.”

The sea god’s eyes grew distant, like he was recalling something important. 

“Actually,”

Here it comes. 

“If it’s a quest you want, I know of someone in dire need of your aid.”

“What? Who?”

Percy stared at his dad. Who could possibly need Percy’s help, of all people?

His dad nodded, though he smiled faintly. “You’ll be going home after this trip, yes? That’s perfect. Percy, I’d like you to find someone and bring him back to camp with you.”

A fetch quest instead of spending Christmas with his mom? Fucking perfect. Where’d Percy have to go this time?

“It shouldn’t be very hard to find him.”

And then his dad gave him a general area, listing off a few streets that wouldn’t take longer than twenty minutes to get to from his apartment. 

“That’s it? Who is it? It’s not-” Percy couldn’t even bring himself to say it. It wasn’t another child of Poseidon, meaning that his dad got with another woman after leaving Percy’s mom, was it?

His dad stood. “You will know him when you see him, Percy. And he will be grateful to find  _ you _ as well.”

Poseidon lingered for a moment. “Good luck, son.”

Then he was gone, a breeze carrying away the scent of sea and salt.

Percy laid down on the roof and wished he could scream without anyone hearing him. 

* * *

At least Mom was happy to see him. The apartment was actually clean when Percy got home. No Smelly Gabe to be found. There were even a few fresh potted plants on the windowsill, and the tiny fake Christmas tree they put up every year sparkled with tinsel.

When he arrived home, Mom squeezed the air out of his lungs with her hug and Percy let her. 

“How has camp been, baby? And your first semester being homeschooled? You finished all your exams, right? Chiron told me you’ve been doing great in Latin and Greek.”

Percy didn’t answer right away. He melted against his mom’s side and felt like crying. 

“I-it’s been good, Mom. At least there’s no way I can get expelled from camp.”

She ran her fingers through his hair. “I’m so glad, Percy.”

So sue Percy, but he forgot about his dad’s quest for a few days. Being home was the first time in a long time he was able to sleep without nightmares. He got to eat his mom’s blue chocolate-chip cookies and watch scary movies with her (horror movies on Christmas Eve was a tradition for them). And on Christmas morning, they traded gifts. 

Percy unwrapped the long, heavy package that had been sitting under the tree since he got home.

“No way.”

He looked to his mom and knew without a doubt he’d start crying. 

_ “Mom.” _

“Think of it as a special present, since we didn’t get to celebrate your birthday this summer.”

It was a skateboard. A  _ new _ one, and it was all his. Percy couldn’t count all the times he was younger and wanted to learn. His first and last skateboard, bought second hand a few years ago, broke in an unfortunate accident that definitely didn’t involve being chased through a park by serpent ladies.

Mom gave him a knowing smile that reminded him of himself. “Having Gabe declared dead was so difficult, you know. I was hardly consoled with the benefits from his life insurance.”

She wiped a false tear and Percy laughed. Mom reached over and squeezed Percy’s hand. “But with the apartment being just us, and with you being at camp now, I thought we should celebrate a little bit extra this year.”

Percy leaned over and hugged her. 

“Thanks, Mom. I have something for you, too.”

Percy had been so nervous leaving his mom’s gift on the bus while he went on the field trip to Olympus. Thankfully, it hadn’t broken on the way home. He watched as mom unwrapped the brown paper from the cardboard box and opened it. 

_ “Oh, _ Percy.”

It was a clay vase Percy sculpted and painted himself in the workshop. He didn’t really have the skills to carve marble, but Silena had taught him how to sculpt pretty well. Percy watched as his mom lifted the vase from the box. He watched as her eyes traced over the black painted patterns of waves and pegasi. 

“This will look beautiful in the kitchen, Percy.”

“So you like it?”   
  
“I  _ love _ it.”   


Mom got up to set the vase on the kitchen table. 

The rest of the day passed by in an idyllic haze, but his quest began nagging him from the back of his mind. Percy knew Mom would be driving him back to camp in the morning, so there really wasn’t any other time to go find whoever it was his dad wanted found. 

While it was still light outside, Percy pulled on his jacket and winter boots. He also tucked a small flashlight into his pocket, just in case.

“Mom, I have to go somewhere for a little while.”

“On Christmas? Where?”

Percy told her about the quest his dad sent him on. She pursed her lips and nodded. 

“Alright, Percy. Be safe. You have your sword?”   
  
“Always do.”

“And you have some nectar or ambrosia?”   
  
Percy still had a few nectar candies from playing cards, so he figured that counted. 

“Yeah, Mom. Don’t worry, dad made it sound like this wouldn’t take long.”

“Okay, Percy. Try to be back before dark.”

Percy nodded and headed out. Even on Christmas day, there were still plenty of cars and people on the streets. Without much trouble, he found the general area his dad described. And now that he was there, Percy had no idea what to do. Knock on doors? Ask people if they’ve seen a freak of nature causing havoc by chance?

If this was a kid of Poseidon like him, Percy figured they wouldn’t be hard to spot. 

He walked past an alley, paused, then doubled back. At the end of the alley were a few hellhounds. They were the size of wolves and eating chunks of meat from what looked like a cat or raccoon. But that wasn’t what caught his attention. Because not very far from the hellhounds was what looked like a makeshift fort made out of cardboard, plywood, and sheets of metal.

Percy recalled how Annabeth ran away from home at the age of seven. A fort in a New York back alley might not actually be a bad place to start searching. The only problem were the hellhounds. 

He stepped inside the alley and took out riptide. Percy uncapped it, letting his pen grow into a sword. The nearest hellhound raised its head and growled. The other two raised their heads and followed suit. 

“Hey, uh, nice doggies. You’ve seen a demigod around here? Preferably one still alive?”

The biggest one took a step toward him. 

“No? Alright then.”

He raised his sword. Then Percy had an idea. He’d grown so used to hiding his eyes, to knowing he was unbearable to look at. But did it extend to monsters too?   


He took off his shades. 

Immediately, the biggest hellhound stopped growling. It’s hackles lowered as it sniffed the air. It wasn’t the reaction Percy was looking for, but he could work with it.

Distantly, he recalled memories of playing with some big, black dogs that wanted to follow him home from school. He had memories of feeding them leftovers from his school lunch, too. But that was impossible. Monsters would have ripped him apart. 

Percy put his sunglasses back on. One of the smaller hellhounds immediately started barking at him. He took them off. The hostility in the air started ebbing away again.

Monsters were supposed to hate all demigods. So was Percy… not all demigod?

He instantly dismissed the idea. It was impossible for him to be anything other than a regular, albeit powerful, demigod. And other monsters still attacked him. These hellhounds were just bad at being monsters, apparently. 

Percy skirted around them and started moving toward the fort, keeping his back to one of the walls. Honestly not sure what else he could do, he knocked on the sheet of plywood making up the door.

“Hey… anyone home?”

No response.    
  
_ Please don’t already be dead, _ Percy thought. 

“I’m a friend. I’ve been sent by my father, Poseidon.”

There was a sound from inside. Percy hoped it wasn’t some random homeless guy about to jump him. Instead, it was something much more confusing. The hellhounds started barking again as the door was flung open. Before Percy could react, two massive muscled arms wrapped around him and squeezed, lifting him at least a foot off the ground.

_ “Whoa-” _

“Friend!” He heard a voice say, “Yay! A friend has been sent to me!”

Percy started seeing black spots dance in the corners of his vision. 

“Uh, yeah… wanna put your friend down now?”   
  
“Yes!”

Percy grunted as he was set back on the ground. At first, he had no idea what to make of the kid standing in front of him. The hellhounds were pacing the alley, agitated but not necessarily hostile. The poor guy living in the alley was dressed only in ripped jeans and a flannel shirt torn up at the sleeves. His boots had clearly seen better days, being torn by claws and caked in mud. 

But what weirded Percy out was how freaking huge he was. At least a head taller than Percy and ripped to Hades, but grinning like a little kid. Percy’s eyes travelled a touch higher. 

Oh. 

Percy immediately took a step back, instinctively raising his sword. 

It was a Cyclops. 

Somewhere on Olympus or in his underwater palace, Poseidon was probably laughing his ass off with some popcorn in hand. Cyclopes worked for him, didn’t they? In his underwater forges?

“Who- who are you?” Percy asked.

“My name is Tyson!” The Cyclops said, still smiling, “Son of Poseidon!”

* * *

_ “Percy,”  _ Chiron said through the Iris message. _ “You… cannot bring a cyclops to camp.” _

Mom gave Chiron a disapproving frown from the side. She was holding the shower head in just the right way that a rainbow formed from the fading sunlight and the flashlight Percy was holding up. 

Percy said, “I know, Chiron, but this is different. When we were on Olympus, my dad came to me and told me to find someone. And Tyson claims he’s a son of Poseidon, too.”

_ “But do you have any way of proving this?” _ Chiron asked.

Percy remained silent. Mom leaned forward so she was in-frame and spoke up, “Chiron, he’s not an adult cyclops. He’s just a child, even younger than Percy.”

Mom already had a soft spot for Tyson. When Percy came home with him, Mom had been horrified at first. Then Tyson started babbling about how happy he was to meet a new friend, and apparently, once a six foot tall cyclops starts chattering like a little kid, they become hard to be scared of. 

Chiron seemed to consider this. Percy could hear the unmistakable sound of his teacher pawing one hoof against the ground in contemplation. 

_ “Well, seeing as how there are much fewer campers here than usual, we can more safely determine if he would be a danger to the camp.” _   
  
“So he can come?”

_ “I suppose so.” _

Percy wasn’t sure if he was happy to hear that. On one hand, great. His quest was done. On the other? He didn’t sign up to be a cyclops baby-sitter. 

_ “But with the both of you, it may be safer to return sooner rather than later,”  _ Chiron said. 

“Oh.”

“I’ll drive them down to camp tonight, Chiron,” Mom said, “Don’t worry.”

Percy tried not to cry when the call ended. Or scream. 

What a fucking Christmas this has been.

* * *

They thankfully didn’t get attacked by Minotaurs or hellhounds on the way to camp. Unfortunately, that meant Percy was still saying goodbye to his mom a day too soon. He arrived at the top of the hill with his mom and Tyson, Chiron waiting for them.

Immediately, Tyson pointed and said, “Pony!” 

Percy wished he could bury himself in the snow for a hundred years. 

“Young man, I am a _ centaur.” _

Tyson frowned. “Centaur? You like parties?”

Huh?

Chiron looked less baffled and more tired. “Goodness, please don’t confuse me for my brethren. Now,” he turned to Percy, “are you certain about this?”   


Percy nodded, knowing he didn’t have much else of a choice. Chiron nodded and turned back to Tyson.

“Very well. Then I, Chiron, give you permission to enter Camp-Half Blood.”

The air around them rippled, and Percy didn’t doubt that the camp would let Tyson in now. But before he had to leave, Percy hugged his mom. 

“Bye, Mom. Can I come home around time for spring break?”   
  
“Of course, baby. Now, have fun. And- and watch after Tyson.”

Mom had never been within the camp before, but she did have incredibly clear sight for a mortal. Percy didn’t doubt she could see the arena and the lava-spitting climbing wall from the top of the hill. 

“Okay, Mom.”

He watched her leave, heading back down the hill for her car. Once she got inside, she rolled down the window and waved. Percy waved back, watching her turn around and drive down the road the way they came.

“Percy,” Chiron said gently, bringing his attention back to camp. 

He and Tyson followed Chiron down the hill. 

“You’ve actually in time for dinner,” Chiron said, “and it will be a good time to introduce your new friend. I’ve already told the campers ahead of time that we would be having a… a guest.”

“Perfect,” Percy said. He glanced at Tyson, who was turning every which way to take in all of Camp Half-Blood. And for a second, Percy felt bad about being upset earlier. Tyson might’ve been a cyclops, but he was just a kid too. 

Then they arrived at the dining pavilion. The laughter and talk stopped immediately. Everyone stared at Tyson, with Clarisse even brandishing a butter knife in his direction. 

“Chiron, what’s a cyclops doing in the camp?” She asked. 

“It’s fine, he’s with me,” Percy said, “Everyone, this is Tyson. My dad sent me to find him. He’s apparently a-”

He struggled to say it aloud. “He claims he’s also a son of Poseidon.”

“And you just trusted him, you dipshit? He’s a-” Clarisse faltered mid-sentence. Everyone began staring at Tyson with even wider eyes. Percy followed their gaze. 

A green trident appeared over Tyson’s head. The final nail in the coffin, so to speak. Percy wasn’t an only child anymore. 

The rest of the night was kind of a blur. Percy declined to sing carols or campfire songs, instead heading to bed in Cabin 3. Tyson followed, giddy that he really was Percy’s brother. Only when he was actually getting into bed did Percy realize Tyson would be subjected to his nightmares. 

“Hey, uh… big guy?”

“Yes?”

Percy was probably going to be hell (or Hades?) to live with. “I get nightmares, sometimes. Sorry if I wake you.”

Tyson frowned. “Why would you wake me?”   


“Nevermind. Just get some rest.”   
  
“Okay!”

Percy took off his shades, rolled onto his side so he was facing the wall, and called for lights out. The cabin was plunged into darkness. Not very long after that, Percy could hear someone snoring. Gods, Tyson sounded like a chainsaw amplified through a megaphone. 

_ Thanks, dad.  _ Percy thought. 

He must have fallen asleep eventually, because at some point in the night, Percy thought he was awake but he couldn’t move. He didn’t think it was sleep paralysis either, because he couldn’t hear Tyson snoring.

So was it a dream? And more importantly, would it turn into a nightmare?

The longer he waited for something to happen, the more Percy realized it was actually too quiet. No wind, no birds, nothing at all. Percy couldn’t even hear himself breathing. He thought he was still in bed, but the longer he dwelled on it, the less he was certain he was even in bed at all. 

He felt like he still had weight, but he couldn’t feel the texture of his clothes on his skin. Percy tried to move, to struggle against his invisible bonds. And eventually, he was rewarded with a new sound. The thrum of what sounded like a drum, but deeper and coming from all sides of him. 

Wait. 

Percy stopped trying to struggle and actually listened to the sound. 

It wasn’t a drum. He was hearing his own heartbeat. 

Where was he? What was happening to him? Why couldn’t he move? 

But the more anxious he became, the faster his heart beat. Eventually, Percy thought the sound was becoming distorted. First it was a heartbeat, then it began echoing and unravelling. And out of the chaos came a voice. Not like the one he heard in other dreams. It was a new voice, made out of the pulse of his own heart. The words were so faint, Percy wasn’t sure he was even hearing them at all. 

_ “Embrace me, Perseus.”  _


	4. isle unto thyself ii

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to write a direct continuation for the next chapter, but nothing really fitted. So I ended up with more of an epilogue that takes place after the main events in Sea of Monsters. For reference, Tyson is about to leave to be trained in Poseidon’s underwater forges.

After everything Percy and Tyson went through, he almost couldn’t believe he had to say goodbye. He and Tyson were walking by the shore, the ocean lapping at their feet as Percy had no idea when he’d next see his brother.

“You sure you’ll be alright on your own?” Percy asked. 

Tyson laughed. “I won’t be alone. I’ll have other cyclopes. And Dad, too.”   
  
Right. Percy was a mortal hero, meaning no father-son fishing trips or hikes. He supposed that by virtue of technically being a monster, Tyson didn’t really have those sorts of restrictions.

A part of Percy was jealous Tyson would get to live it up under the sea. Another part of Percy wished his brother would stay. Not because Tyson was one of the best smiths in camp, and not because Tyson was a powerful ally to have. But because for the first time ever, Percy had a brother. Someone who didn’t get mad at him for having nightmares. Someone who actually wanted to be there and comfort him. 

Tyson stopped to ask Percy, “And will  _ you _ be alright without  _ me?” _

Not for the first time, and maybe not for the last, Percy wondered if Tyson could read his emotions the way Grover could. He was young, yeah, but he was incredibly intuitive. 

Percy tried to crack a smile. “Yeah, big guy. I’ll be fine. And I won’t be alone, either. I’ll have Annabeth with me.”

“Good! You deserve to be happy too!” Tyson clapped him on the back so hard, Percy’s knees buckled.

In the distance, they heard the whinny of a horse. A figure broke through the waves about fifty feet from the shore. It was a white hippocampus with a rainbow colored fin instead of a mane. Tyson’s ride. 

But before his brother could leave, Percy asked, “Oh yeah, Tyson. I’ve always wanted to ask, but way back when we first met, how did you know you were a son of Poseidon?”

Tyson smiled widely, his big brown eye reflecting the moonlight. 

“Didn’t know at all, not at first. But then one day, I started praying to anyone for someone to help me.”

Tyson paused, as if reminiscing. Then he continued, “I didn’t get an answer for a really long time, but then one day, I had a dream where Dad came to me. He said someone special would find me and bring me someplace safe.”

Tyson squeezed Percy in a spectacular bone-crushing hug. “And then you found me! And we got to live at camp together!”

The hippocampus in the water whinnied. Tyson’s smile fell as he set Percy down. 

“Don’t worry, we’ll see each other again.”

Percy tried to ignore the heaviness in his heart. “Yeah, of course we will. Now, get going, big guy. You’ve got a job now.”

Percy waved Tyson off as he watched his brother wade into the water. Tyson climbed on Rainbow the Hippocampus’ back, and off they went. 

And Percy was alone again. 

It was the second to last day of summer. Grover was going back out into the world to look for Pan. Annabeth was staying at camp again this year, but she would be going to a boarding school in the city for most of the year. So close, but still so far away.    
  
Now with Tyson gone too, Percy felt more alone than ever. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How apparent is it that I'm writing this fic as I reread the series? 
> 
> Up next: Percy goes through puberty but for abominations. (And don't worry, the next chapter will be much longer.)


	5. I can’t tell if I’m not me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY this is where the story starts getting fun! 
> 
> I really hope u guys like this one!
> 
> (Title from The Mind Electric by Miracle Musical)

The Sea of Monsters showed Percy a whole new side of himself. He could manipulate entire ships to do his bidding, and it was impossible to get lost while at sea. Percy had perfect control in the water, even able to steer a ship between the craggy rocks off the coast of an island of sirens. He was in his element when there was no land in sight. 

So Percy did what he had to. He sailed with Annabeth and Tyson, found Grover, and helped recover the Golden Fleece, while also narrowly escaping Luke’s ship not once, but _twice._ And when it was over and they returned to camp, Percy assumed his (technically Clarisse’s) quest would be the highlight of the summer. That all changed on the last day of camp. 

The Golden Fleece had returned the daughter of Zeus to the world of the living. The first few days she was alive were utter chaos. According to Thalia herself, the last thing she remembered was dying on Half-Blood Hill, hoping that Luke and Annabeth had gotten to safety. She didn’t even recognize Annabeth at first, more than five years having gone by since her death. 

Chiron hadn’t wanted to tell her what happened to Luke, thinking it would be too much for her to process. Percy disagreed. Annabeth was torn. So Percy knocked on the front door of Cabin 1 alone after curfew, relieved when Thalia let him in. 

Thalia was devastated. After everything they went through, only for Luke to abandon Annabeth and the camp, to poison _her,_ the child of Zeus sending arcs of lightning across her skin and arcing through the air. 

“You’re lying!” She had shouted, tears in her electric blue eyes, “Luke would never do that. He- he wouldn’t!”

But even as she spoke, Percy could see the gears in her head turning. She’d been gone for years, and a lot had changed since then. 

Percy didn’t fear the lightning that singed his clothes and made his hair stand on end. A part of him felt that he had nothing to be afraid of. (A part of Percy still suspected he didn’t survive Luke’s scorpion the previous summer.)

He put a hand on her shoulder, the muscles of his arm spasming. He told her what he wished someone could tell him, “Hey, it’s alright. You aren’t alone.”

Thalia narrowed her eyes at him. “What’s your deal? Why are you telling me all of this?”

“I’m Annabeth’s friend,” he smiled, “Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon.”

And Thalia had gaped at him as he removed his sunglasses. Seeing his eyes stunned her long enough that her lightning died down. 

But she had to be one of the strongest, bravest demigods Percy had ever seen. She got over his eyes and his aura faster than most and, once she calmed down, showed him her shield embossed with Medusa’s likeness. For the first time in his life, Percy got a taste of how others possibly felt when they looked at him. He loved it.

“So neither of us are meant to exist?” Thalia asked, a smile on her lips but a sort of tired sadness in her eyes. 

“Yup,” Percy replied, the same sort of quiet acceptance on his shoulders. 

They ended up talking for hours, almost until dawn, about their quests and how it wasn’t fair that they were punished for their parent’s actions. He hoped he and Thalia would become fast friends. For the first time in his life, Percy found someone like him. Someone who was an outsider even among demigods. 

So it was disappointing (heartbreaking, bitter, painful) when Thalia decided she’d go to boarding school the next week with Annabeth. They’d be close to camp, but still too far for Percy’s taste. Though he could understand it, in a way. Thalia had been thrown into a world where one of her best friends nearly twice as old as she remembered and the other was a traitor. Percy could understand wanting to be where Annabeth was. 

But the Sea of Monsters also unleashed something else in him. Something that Percy wished he had someone to talk to about it. Someone that wasn’t his year-round teacher/mentor. It was a churning in him similar to Charybdis’ open maw. It was a hunger that hadn’t left him since returning from the Sea. 

Maybe he could chalk it up to being a growing boy. He outgrew the shirt size he usually wore, having shot up a few inches over the summer. But steak at dinner started tasting better and better the rarer it got. It felt good to gnaw on wing bones too. Any bones, even. He still shoved vegetables and fruit down his throat to keep Chiron off his back, but Percy didn’t have much of an appetite for anything beyond very rare meat. 

The Sea had made him more powerful, no doubt about it. Percy knew the more he trained, and the stronger he got, the more attention he’d attract. According to the other campers and the naiads, both aspects of Percy’s aura got stronger. Naiads told him he began to really _feel_ like a son of Poseidon, always carrying the scent of sea and the unpredictable aura of a powerful ocean. 

At the same time, his sunglasses slowly stopped working. Even with them on, people averted their eyes. They avoided Percy when they could and spoke to him briskly, in short bursts of words before fleeing. Even Clarisse stopped picking as many fights with Percy as before. But then again, maybe they buried the hatchet by recovering the Golden Fleece together. He hoped that was the case.

Feeling like he had nothing to lose, and maybe feeling a little hurt by being seen as an even bigger freak among demigods, Percy stopped wearing his sunglasses. At that point, only Chiron had the strength to treat him like a normal camper. Well, him and Annabeth. Thalia was also good at stomaching Percy’s presence. 

He just wished he knew what was wrong with him. He wished he knew how to quell the hunger in him. 

Starting around mid September, not quite autumn but not quite summer anymore, the howling of hellhounds kept them awake nearly every night. First it was just a lone hound, calling from somewhere beyond the border of camp. Then it was two. Then three. Then it was a full pack. Twice, they attacked Pelus, the dragon assigned to guard the Golden Fleece. Another time, they attacked Argus when he attempted to deal with them. 

Something had to be done about them, and Chiron announced at dinner one day that all available campers would have to form a task force to deal with them. Clarisse and her siblings cheered, but Percy just felt annoyed. He was still starving, having eaten only one rare steak for dinner. Nevertheless, he armored up after dinner and agreed to survey the shore. They had an odd number of campers that year, so Percy chose to go solo with Blackjack for backup. 

He went to the stables to get his Pegasus friend. 

_“Hey, boss,”_ Blackjack said. 

“Hey. I’m going to need your help with something,” Percy said. 

At least the horses still liked him. Or at least tolerated him. Blackjack let Percy saddle him up and they headed for the long strip of shoreline that sat at the edge of camp. 

_“So we’re looking for hellhounds?”_ Blackjack asked. 

“Yeah, but I don’t think they’ll be near the water.”

Just as Percy suspected, the beach was empty. Still, he urged Blackjack to land. 

_“You alright, boss?”_

“Yeah, just want to be thorough.”

His stomach growled and Percy pressed a hand to his abdomen. In truth, Percy just wanted to get away from the other campers. 

As his pegasus began trotting down the beach, Percy asked, “Hey, Blackjack?”  
  
 _“Yeah?”_

Percy hesitated. “I’m not, you know… do I seem weird to you?”

_“How so?”_

“I mean, I don’t fit in among other demigods.”

_“‘Cause you’re special. You’ve got some equine spirit in you.”_

Percy continued without thinking. “People have trouble even looking at me. Monsters don’t.”

_“You calling me a monster?”_

“Aren’t you? Technically?”  
  
Blackjack paused. _“Guess so.”_

Percy wanted to ask Blackjack if the pegasi ever had any trouble treating Percy normally. Instead, his eyes landed on something in the distance. A black blotch standing against the green of the forest, only about a hundred feet away. Its red eyes stared at Percy before it tossed its head back and let out a long howl. 

Blackjack reared back, wings flaring. _“Uh, boss-”_

“I know,” Percy drew his sword, “Hopefully, we’ll get some reinforcements soon.”

Blackjack took to the air as the hellhound charged, followed by more of its brethren as they bled from the shadows. 

_Fucking Hades,_ Percy thought, _that’s a lot of dogs._

A pack of over a dozen hellhounds manifested on the beach. The smallest was the size of a golden retriever, the biggest was the size of an SUV. Percy thought they’d be clamoring over themselves to snap at Blackjack’s hooves. Instead, they stayed below Percy, panting and tails wagging. 

“Huh,” he said. 

Percy remembered the black stray dogs he saw as kids. The big ones that let Percy pet them. And the hellhounds from the alley he found Tyson in. Those hadn’t attacked him either. 

“Hey, Blackjack.”

_“Yeah, Boss?”_

“Take me down.”

_“You fucking shitting me?”_

Ordinarily, his pegasus’ foul mouth would make Percy laugh. Now, he was dead serious. 

“I’m not joking, get down low and I’ll drop to the ground.”  
  
Blackjack hesitated. _“If you’re sure, Boss.”_

“I am.”

When Blackjack lowered himself until hovered about five feet in the air, a good few yards from the hellhound pack, Percy dropped to the ground. He figured if anything went wrong, he had the ocean to back him up. 

Instead of immediately being mauled to death and testing out the other theory Percy had about himself, he lowered his sword and whistled. The biggest of the hellhounds approached. Up close, the monster looked a little more friendly. When they weren’t baring their teeth, hellhounds kind of looked like ordinary dogs. Albeit huge and with glowing red eyes. 

“Hey, there,” Percy said. He held out his hand, despite his gut instinct telling him not to. The hellhound sniffed him, then nudged his palm.

 _“Boss?”_ Blackjack called from behind him. 

Percy laughed humorlessly. “Told you I wasn’t normal.”

The smallest of the hellhounds ran up to him and circled Percy, sniffing his shoes and poking its wet nose against his hand. 

“Didn’t know it was possible for hellhounds to be nice,” Percy said. 

For a single second, Percy forgot about his hunger. He forgot about his eyes and how isolated he felt. He forgot about all his worries in exchange for a single moment of solidarity with these hellhounds. 

The peace was shattered when he heard the rumble of oncoming horse hooves. 

“Percy!”

Chiron appeared at the top of the hill overlooking the beach, bow drawn. 

“Wait!” Percy shouted. 

Half of him wanted for Chiron to not shoot. The other half of him willed the hellhounds to scatter. And to his surprise, they did. The whole pack fled, melting into the shadows before Chiron could shoot a single one. Percy’s teacher thundered down to the beach, followed by the Stoll twins sprinting after him. 

“Percy! What were you doing?”

Percy had seen a lot of his teacher over the past few years of knowing him, but he’d never seen Chiron so close to looking panicked before. Connor and Travis Stoll stopped just short of Chiron. 

“What happened?” Connor asked, “We heard a hellhound howl coming from over here.”

“We got here as fast as we could,” Travis added. 

“They- I was about to attack them,” Percy said, “but they scattered.”

“You mean they didn’t rip you to shreds?” Connor asked.

Chiron was scanning the beach now, squinting in the dying light of the late afternoon. He muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like a curse.

“The three of you, head back to your cabins. I’m calling an early curfew tonight.”

“What? But it’s not like they can get in the camp,” Percy said.

“Just go,” Chiron said, “There’s something in these beasts’ behavior that troubles me.”

Percy and the Stoll twins all silently agreed not to push Chiron on this. They all headed back to the cabins together, with Blackjack walking alongside Percy. With a sardonic grin, Percy noticed that the Stoll brothers were carefully keeping a good ten feet between them. 

“So, Percy,” Travis said, “...did you get a good look at the hellhounds? How many were there?”

At least they were willing to talk to him. “Around a dozen. Maybe closer to fifteen, actually.”

Connor whistled. “That’s a lot of hounds.”

“Yeah, I don’t think we’ll be sleeping well tonight,” Travis replied.

The Stoll brothers began bantering with each other, but Percy ignored them. He headed for the stables to get the saddle off of Blackjack before sealing himself inside his cabin. As a kid who regularly hid snack stashes in even the strictest boarding schools, Percy chose to also keep some soda and bags of junk food under his bunk. He was starving as he tore into a family sized bag of chips, not stopping until it was half empty.

Percy chugged a can of lukewarm cherry coke, but it just wasn’t enough. He fucking ate dinner, but he was still starving. He finished the bag of chips and flopped back onto the floor, staring up at the ceiling. Percy’s eyes traced the patterns of fossils and coral above him, one hand on his abdomen. 

“What the Hades is wrong with me?” He asked no one. 

Percy rolled onto his side and closed his eyes, resting his head against the cool tile of the floor. He must have fallen asleep because the next time he opened them, his cabin was considerably darker than it was before. He forced himself up, noticing how he was still hungry. 

Percy went to the door and pulled the curtains aside from the window next to it. It looked like the sun had just set, the torches lining the paths still lit. Percy bit his lip as he heard the first of the hellhounds. It was past curfew, but Percy knew he wouldn’t sleep. Either the hounds or his grumbling stomach would keep him up. 

Percy closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against the glass. The only hellhounds that had ever been hostile to Percy were the ones under Luke’s control. But these ones didn’t sound like they were after prey. They sounded like they were calling to gather. And a part of Percy wanted to go with them. _Anything_ was better than being cooped up in his cabin all night.

 _Fuck it._ He thought. Why not go investigate their pest problem himself?

Percy pulled on his sandals, grabbed a spare breastplate hanging from the wall, and unsheathed riptide before strapping his sword to his side. Percy snuck out of his cabin, noticing that the lights were off in all the others. Good. 

He sprinted toward the source of the howling. Percy met the hellhounds at the beach, right where the magical border bled with the real world. As soon as he appeared over the crest of the hill above them, the hellhounds stopped. 

Percy hesitated. A part of him wondered if the hellhounds would have a change of heart at night. Maybe this was all an elaborate trap to eat him specifically. Percy looked back, eyes darting across the whole of the darkened camp. 

No Annabeth, no Grover, no Tyson, no Thalia. He pursed his lips. 

Alone, like he’d always been. 

What the fuck did he have to lose?

Percy jumped and slid down the sandy hill. He hit the bottom with a grunt, now on the other side of the border. He drew his sword and waited. 

The hellhounds didn’t attack him. They panted, tails wagging, as if waiting. Percy heard the sound of shifted sand and tensed. He turned, fixing his gaze on the biggest of the hellhounds as it approached. 

“What do you want with me?” Percy asked it. Some monsters had human-level intelligence. Though hellhounds always just seemed like big wolves, maybe they could be reasoned with?

The massive hellhound stopped just short of striking range, sniffed the air, then lowered itself until its belly was on the sand. Percy raised a brow and lowered his sword. 

He looked around. The rest of the pack was waiting.

Waiting for _him?_

Percy turned his attention back to the big hellhound and chose to slip riptide back into his pocket. Without his celestial bronze sword, he felt more vulnerable than ever. And he felt even stranger as he approached the massive hound and ran his hand over its side. Its fur was surprisingly soft. 

_Go._ A part of Percy whispered. It wasn’t the part of him that constantly warned him he needed to hide himself. It was something new. 

Percy climbed on the hellhounds back. Immediately, the beast stood and tossed its head back. The whole pack let out a round of howls before the big one took off. Percy yelped and buried his fists in its long fur, holding on tight as the hellhound bounded across the beach. 

The first few seconds were terrifying. 

Then Percy felt the salty night air hitting his face, cool and refreshing. Then Percy felt the rhythm of the hellhound’s strides beneath him. Then he felt his heart hammering in his chest as the whole of him wanted to go _faster._

Percy tossed his head back and laughed, the sound lost to the wind. 

They broke through the edge of the forest, now completely doused in shadows. Percy had always assumed the magical border wrapped around the entire forest, but apparently there was a sliver of land that laid unclaimed. The hellhounds sprinted through the brush, leaping over fallen logs and across vein-like streams. Percy lowered himself, keeping flush with the hellhound’s back to avoid being hit in the face by branches. 

The biggest hellhound suddenly changed course, nearly throwing Percy off its back. The rest followed, apparently having found a scent to follow. They sprinted through the woods with a renewed fervor, picking up pace as they seemed to blend with the shadows around them. 

Percy was expecting a deer at the end of the hunt, not a drakon. He only got a good look at it for a second, but he saw a serpent-like lizard thing with golden eyes rear its head from the underbrush. It hissed at them, but it didn’t scare Percy and it didn’t scare the hounds either. 

The big one leapt through the air. Without thinking, Percy let go and used the hellhound’s back as a springboard to launch himself even higher in the air. As the pack surrounded the drakon, Percy drew riptide while he was still in the air. He fell, almost in slow motion, slashing his sword down the side of the drakon’s neck. Hot blood exploded from the wound, drenching Percy. 

It shrieked, twisting and snapping at Percy with its maw of jagged teeth. Before it could snap him in half, the big hellhound leaped forward and took the drakon’s throat in its jaws. The two beasts thrashed on the forest floor, each fighting for control. Drakons were strong on their own, sure, but the beauty of hellhounds was that they could work in a pack. 

Percy stumbled back, watching with wide eyes as the pack all attacked the drakon at once. The smaller ones tore at its vulnerable underside while the larger ones pinned it on its side. 

Seeing an opening, Percy lunged. He took riptide and plunged it in the gash he made before. For several amazing, heart stopping, stomach clenching seconds, the drakon tried to lash out one last time. Percy almost thought it’d throw him off it. Then the beast started slowing. 

The window between dying and death lasted for only a few seconds, and for one, all the hellhounds turned their attention to Percy. Something in him compelled him to nod, so he did. For the last moments of the drakon’s life, the hellhounds had their fill. They tore flesh from the drakon’s underbelly while it was still alive, gnawing on flesh and guts as the thing wailed. 

Then it exploded in a burst of golden dust. Percy collapsed on the ground, his sword suddenly lodged in nothing. He pressed his palm to his chest, heart still hammering with adrenaline. 

He realized the gravity of the situation he was in. He was outside the camp, alone, splattered with drakon blood and surrounded by hellhounds. Percy licked his lips, tasting the tang of copper, before he sat back on the forest floor and laughed. 

Skateboarding, sword fighting, and steering a ship through an obstacle course of jagged rocks all had nothing on hunting with hellhounds. For a second, even though his stomach was still hollow, Percy stared at the clouded, starless sky and thought he had never felt better. 

* * *

Percy woke up the next morning with an empty stomach. He rolled out of bed, got dressed and headed to the dining pavilion. 

“-hear them?”

“-all night!”

“-wonder if they’re gone now.”

The voices washed over Percy as he ate a breakfast twice as large as he was used to having. 

“Percy.”

He looked up. Chiron was standing at the end of his table, his eyes glancing over Percy’s form.

“You look well today. Were you able to rest last night?”

Percy nodded as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Slept great, actually.”  
  
Chiron nodded. “I’m glad. It’s odd that the hellhounds ceased their crying so early in the night. But I’d like to know if you’d be willing to help with a patrol of the camp before curfew.”  
  
Percy smiled. “Sure.”

After breakfast, Percy went about his day as normal. Classes with Chiron, essentially demigod homeschooling, followed by sword training in the arena and some afternoon rock climbing. 

No one had to know about the pile of bloodied clothes under his bunk. If Percy smelled more strongly of the sea than usual, no one thought of it. And if his aura of decay, of raw universe and entropy, felt stronger than usual, not a soul could muster the strength to comment on it. 

* * *

Annabeth and Thalia came back to camp on certain weekends, the ones where they didn’t have much homework. It was stupid, missing Annabeth when she wasn’t even out of state. But he still did, his chest aching every time she left for the real world without him. The first time they came back to camp, the last week of September, they both complained about the hellhounds at night. Percy only laughed and told them the problem had actually gotten better recently. 

Chiron started teaching Thalia and Percy how to manipulate the mist. Thalia was better at it than Percy, but with his new skill, he could at least mask his eyes. He still couldn’t figure out how to fully muffle his aura, but with the mist and his sunglasses, Percy started feeling like an ordinary camper for the first time in over a year. 

Classes and training and the occasional hellhound call continued. The weather slowly started getting colder, not quite winter but certainly nearing the end of autumn. There was hardly a satyr in the camp left, with all those available sent across the country to scout for half-bloods. Luke’s army was growing, so Camp Half-Blood had to grow as well.

But something else was brewing in the camp. 

Percy wouldn’t say that he had _trained_ his hellhounds. They didn’t know how to sit or speak on command. But they heeded his calls and deferred to him as leader. They ran with him and he ran with them. They were his steeds and his allies. His pack. 

They knew to quiet themselves at night and to stay away during the day. They knew that when Percy’s hunger reached its tipping point, when it became unbearable, he would go to the border of camp and howl for them. Percy had gotten good at sounding like one of them.

But no one had to know. Percy could take care of himself. He just needed a night or two out of the week to sate himself. It wasn’t like he was hurting anyone, but he just knew no one would understand. 

So on a Friday night before Annabeth and Thalia would be coming over for the weekend, he snuck out of his cabin. Creeping through the shadows, light and surefooted, Percy reached the beach. 

They were waiting for him. 

Percy approached Onyx, the largest of the hellhounds, and patted his snout. 

“Hey boy, you ready?”

Onyx gave an affirmative bark. It was echoed by Abby, the second largest of the hounds. Just like all the times they had done it before, Percy climbed on Onyx’s back. And together, they went into the night. 

* * *

Percy knelt in front of the writhing griffin, the monster still alive as the hellhounds pinned it to the ground. His stomach growled, deafening compared to the griffin’s pitiful wails. He set his sword aside, moving in a haze, no longer afraid of what he had to do. 

Percy braced one hand against the monster’s side and tore into the gash a hellhound had made in the initial attack. The griffin squaked and roared, writhing in agony as Percy tore a small bit of its living flesh from its bones with his hands and ate. 

Its pain didn’t matter to Percy. Their pain had long stopped haunting his dreams. Instead, his eyes glazed over as he consumed the most delicious thing he’d ever tasted. Miles better than ambrosia or nectar. And though he knew the taste of life and fresh blood well by then, Percy could have cried from how it soothed him. The gaping, churning emptiness inside of him quelled in exchange for a delighted shiver crawling up his back. Percy licked the blood from his lips, the dark night deathly quiet for a moment. Everything, the hellhounds, the griffin, the air, the darkness, seemed to be waiting for him. 

And Percy answered the silence with the sound of ripping flesh, using his hands and teeth to gorge himself further on the living tissue. The hellhounds not holding the griffin began howling, delighting in their pack leader fulfilling their hunt and deeming their offering worthy. 

They were a symphony together, a blood-drunken party that made Percy feel whole in ways human company never could. There was no judgement here. No pity or revulsion as they looked in his eyes. 

Percy tore thick strips of meat from the griffin’s bones, peeling away the fur and feathers to get to the tender, warm flesh. He ate like a starved man, unsated and desperate, as he reached inside the griffin’s body until he found something round and firm. The creature wailed into the night, thrashing renewed, as Percy took hold of whatever it was and _pulled._ But not even the griffin’s shrieks could fully bury the sound of ripping tendons and snapping bones.

Percy raised the organ above his head and squeezed, drinking the blood that fell upon his waiting lips. 

Never before in his life would Percy consider himself sadistic or cruel, but the taste of life was utterly intoxicating. All things decayed eventually, but when it came to living beings, this griffin was temporarily taking in the world and turning it into fuel, heat, fury, and breath. It was beyond comprehension, taking the flesh of a thing that tried desperately to make order out of the raw disorder of the universe. Of taking that fat and muscle and energy put into powering this living being and making it his own. 

It was a drunkenness that could have made Dionysus jealous.

Percy swallowed his mouthful of red, warm life and grinned. The griffin had gone quiet as he drank. Not dead, because then it would be nothing but dust and disappointment. Instead, it was somehow still clinging to life. It’s eyes were glossy and unfocused, as if broken by its torment and waiting for it to end. It wouldn’t last more than a minute. 

Percy wiped his bloodied hands on his shirt and picked up his sword. He took a step away from the beast. Immediately, the hellhounds pounced. They tore the griffin to shreds, eating it alive in a flurry of fur and feathers. Percy watched them eat as he bit into his still-warm organ (a second heart, maybe? Some monsters had more than one to power their bodies). He chewed it as a boy would eat an apple, as if it were the most mundane thing in the world. When his pack was done, nothing remained of the creature but a pile of feathers and golden dust. 

Before they left, Percy knelt once more and touched the remnants of the griffin. He issued a silent prayer for the creature, now stirring in the depths of Tartarus before it could be reborn. 

_Thank you._

Because of it, Percy could stay well fed and sane for a few more nights. 

As Percy mounted Onyx, some of the smaller hounds looked to him. Ruby specifically, being the smallest and the last to eat. Percy turned his head toward the deeper areas of the forest. 

He wouldn’t rest until his whole pack was as sated as he was. 

* * *

He should have known it wouldn’t last. Nothing good ever happened to Percy Jackson and the things that did, like his mom and his friends, tended to get put in serious danger because of him. 

The fact that Chiron hadn’t been able to fix their hellhound problem for months had set him on edge. Anything out of the ordinary immediately caught his attention, such as the slight limp in Percy’s walk one morning the week before. Not a problem on most days, but Percy hadn’t done any strenuous physical activity the day before. 

Not any that Chiron knew of, anyways. Besides, he wasn’t Percy’s biggest problem. Not even Annabeth’s growing concern over his appetite and aura was his biggest problem. Not even how Thalia, much closer to being the child of the prophecy than Percy was, now slowly began regarding him with reluctance and distrust. 

Percy went to brush his teeth in the bathroom the morning after a hunt when he hit a tooth and nearly blacked out. He hissed, dropping his toothbrush in the sink as white hot pain coursed through his jaw. Percy’s breaths came out in quick, open-jawed pants as he regained his senses. 

_What the Hades?_

Percy looked in the mirror and noticed the dribble of blood going down his chin. Ignoring his dental hygiene, Percy splashed some water on his face, hoping it’d help heal him.

He looked in the mirror. The blood was gushing from around his upper left canine. Carefully, _very_ carefully, Percy prodded at the tooth with his tongue. He was way too old to be losing baby teeth, so he had no fucking idea why he was bleeding from his mouth.

The pain was more bearable than before, now that Percy was braced for it. With a strangely steady hand, Percy reached up and touched the tooth. Because he had no idea what the fuck he was supposed to do in this situation, he tested how bad it’d hurt if he tried pushing up on it. 

Bad idea. Very, _very_ bad idea. 

Percy swallowed, nauseous not from the taste of his own blood, but how far the tooth bent back with the convulsions of his mouth. The damned thing was going to come out, wasn’t it?

Maybe Percy was like a shark. Maybe his teeth just did that and could grow back?

Before even thinking to get Chiron, Percy tested his theory. He pushed the tooth with his tongue as far as it’d go, feeling very much like it was a bowstring pulled as taut as possible…

Percy gagged on the swell of blood that gushed forth. He covered his mouth with his hands in an attempt to quell the bleeding. When Percy tried to suck in a breath, he felt the absence of something from his mouth.

He looked down. A bloodied canine was sitting in the sink.

Percy looked in the mirror, wondering if water would even help heal something like this. Before he could try calling for help, there was a new pain in his jaw. Percy peeled his lip back and watched with bated breath as something white and pointed emerged from the empty socket. It was a new tooth alright, but it didn’t look human at all. 

In no time, Percy’s stubby little human canine was replaced by an actual fang. About an inch long and pointed like a dog’s canine. Or a hellhound. Percy traced the shape of it with his fingertips and tongue, marvelling at the thing. 

How was he going to explain this to Chiron? And more importantly, what was going to happen to his other human canine?

Percy peeled his lip back on the other side of his mouth. Above said human tooth, he could see a bulge underneath the tender skin of his gums. Another fang. 

He probably should have been panicking by then. Fucking hell, there was still a throbbing ache in his jaw from having his tooth pushed out by a fang. But instead, Percy moved in a pain-induced haze.

He cleaned the blood from the floor and sink. He took his tooth and buried it in the dirt behind the bathrooms. Making a quick stop by his cabin to change into a clean shirt, Percy went to the workshop. Beckendorf was the only Hephaestus kid who stayed year round, and he was spending the weekend at his boarding school in the city. So no one noticed a pair of pliers going missing. Or one of the spare fire resistant tarps. 

No one noticed Percy taking his supplies into his cabin. 

No one had to know. 

He had laid out the tarp on the floor to keep from making a big, bloody mess. He took the mirror hanging on the wall and set it propped up on the floor. Percy took the pliers in his hands. 

No one had to know.

He dropped the tooth he finished pulling into an empty soda can. Percy prodded at the tender flesh of his open socket with his tongue as he pressed his bloodied t-shirt from before to the wound, staring at the mirror in front of him. With a _crack_ that could have been his jaw shifting, that could have been bone breaking, that could have simply been Percy’s imagination, his second fang settled into place. The bleeding stopped on its own, and after wiping his mouth with his shirt, it looked like it had always been there. 

They looked like they were natural. Like they were supposed to be there. Percy opened his mouth as wide as he could, imagining ripping into live flesh with them. He stretched his mouth as wide open as he could and exhaled. 

Something odd happened. The mirror cracked. The blood on his shirt became dried and a dark rusted brown color. Even the shirt itself became faded and weathered. 

Percy blinked. All at once, the pain from just having _ripped out his own tooth_ came crashing down on him. He bit back a scream, curling in on himself as he wailed into the fabric of his old shirt. His breaths came out fast and staggering, eyes watering, head throbbing. 

Percy looked up, blinking through the tears as he saw himself in the ruined mirror. He saw a boy with inhuman eyes, lips peeled back as he bit into a shirt with actual _fangs._

The panic began flooding his chest, filling his heart and stuffing his lungs. No matter what Percy thought he was- demigod, son of Poseidon, two time hero of camp- none of that fucking mattered anymore. 

There was no denying it now. He couldn't possibly be human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If y'all want to hit me up to talk PJO, u can find me on twitter [here!](https://twitter.com/beepmareep)


	6. shadow of nobody there

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all I'm back at it again!
> 
> This chapter is a big boy and kicks off right after the last one, but the next chapter might be slow to come bc classes have kept me from finishing Titan's Curse (and I get most of my inspiration from reading the books). 
> 
> Hope you like it! 
> 
> (Title from Murders by Miracle Musical. Seriously, I get all my titles from their music, pls give them a listen)

The world seemed to cease spinning, Apollo in his sun chariot frozen in time and Gaea herself becoming breathless. Percy stared at the cracked, refracted image of himself in the broken mirror. He stayed there, wide eyed and terrified, his mouth still throbbing with pain, for an endless amount of time. From miles away, he heard footsteps. 

_ “Percy? Are you still sleeping?” _

It was Annabeth. 

She was back from boarding school. Thalia, too. 

“Percy?” She asked again. 

He blinked and suddenly, Percy was thrown into a blind panic. He took the mirror and the pliers and the can holding his human tooth and rolled it all up in the tarp. 

“H-hi, Annabeth!” He shouted. Percy noticed his voice sounded different with his fangs, the barest hint of a lisp with his words. 

_ “Are you alright?”  _ Annabeth asked. 

“ ‘M fine!” Percy said as he shoved the tarp under his bed. 

_ “Okay, so can I come in?” _   
  
“No!” Percy spoke too quickly, too soon. He winced from his own tone, knowing with certainty that Annabeth would notice as well.

“I- I’m getting dressed right now!” Percy said. 

_ “Oh.” _

Percy looked down at himself and realized he’d gotten blood on his fresh shirt as well. He took it off and flung it in the corner of the room, grabbing a new one from the chest by his bed. 

_ “So anyways, Percy… I was wondering if we could talk? Just us?” _

“Uh… sure, why?”

Percy was dressed, but he still couldn’t let her see him. Annabeth hesitated, something not like her at all. 

_ “Chiron is worried about you, Percy. So am I.” _

Percy’s blood ran cold. 

No. They couldn’t know. They couldn’t.

_ “Percy, you’ve been acting really weird lately,” Annabeth said, “and we just want to know what’s wrong.” _

“I’m fine, Wise Girl.”

The nickname didn’t help. 

“Then why won’t you let me in, Seaweed Brain?”

“I- I just can’t, Annabeth. Give me a second, I… I just need a second.”

_ “You sound weird, too.”  _

A pause. 

_ “Percy, I’m coming in.” _

“Wait-”

Percy lunged for the door, but it was too late. Annabeth walked in, and now there was only a few feet of space between them. Percy froze. Annabeth wasn’t staring at his eyes. She was staring at his mouth. 

He pressed his lips together and clapped a hand over his mouth. 

“Anna-”

_ “Percy,”  _ she said, breathless and alarmed. Her stormy gray eyes were churning with a thousand thoughts a second. 

“What happened? How- how did you-”

Percy shook his head, terrified. No one was supposed to know. 

Annabeth’s stare hardened. “I’m getting Chiron.”

“No, please,” Percy grabbed her wrist, “don’t!”

And she actually wrenched her arm out of his hold. Something flashed across her face for half a second. Not repulsion, but something like _ fear.  _

Percy’s whole body stiffened. He needed to get out. He had to go. No one was supposed to know. 

The next thing Percy knew, he was pushing past Annabeth and sprinting across camp. Feet moving one after another on auto-pilot.

No one was supposed to know he didn’t belong anymore.

“Percy!” He heard Annabeth shout from behind him. She had more overall training than him, but Percy hadn’t been spending seven hours a day for the past four months sitting at a desk. He outpaced her, even as Annabeth shouted for someone to help.

He sprinted in a blind panic, heart hammering and eyes watering. This didn’t feel very different from the nation-wide manhunt he’d been subjected to when he was twelve. Except back then, he had Annabeth on his side. 

Percy reached the nearest edge of the border to camp. He reached the beach. Just as his feet hit the sand, he raised his head and let out a call. A shout. A ghostly howl into the wind. 

_ “Onyx!” _

He heard someone coming up from behind him. It was Annabeth, clutching her side as she stopped just a few yards away. 

“Percy-”

The howl of a hellhound cut her off. The pack arrived, melting from the shadows. Before she could stop him, Percy climbed on Onyx’s back. 

They locked eyes for a moment. Just a moment, because Annabeth didn’t have the strength to look at him even a second longer. But in that one second, he saw that she was crying. 

“Don’t, Percy.  _ Please.  _ We can figure this out together. Just- just stop and think-”   
  
“About _ what, _ Wise Girl?” Percy heard himself say. He bared his teeth at her, letting Annabeth see his fangs on full display. It wasn’t in his nature to hold grudges, but Percy felt all his frustrations bubbling to the surface. 

“No one here has ever liked me! No one can even stomach looking at me anymore! Not even you!”

Percy wiped his eyes just as he caught the sound of horse hooves approaching. Without looking back, he said, “Face it. I’m just a mistake. Goodbye, Annabeth.”

Just as Chiron and a handful of curious campers appeared, Percy’s pack was already heading for the edge of the woods. They melted into the shadows and vanished. 

* * *

Percy couldn’t remember the last time he was home. It was probably a bad idea taking his pack into the city, and Chiron could have already contacted his mom, but Percy had nowhere else to go. So he sucked in a breath to steady himself and knocked on his front door. 

_ “Coming!” _ he heard his mom say. 

Percy’s stomach twisted and coiled in his abdomen. Hearing his mom’s voice made him so homesick, despite basically  _ being _ home. And yet, a part of him felt like he had to go. That he couldn’t let his mom see him like this.

Then the door started opening and for a single second, Percy forgot all his worries. 

His eyes watered as his throat tightened. 

“M-mom,” he spoke in a whisper, revealing his teeth as little as possible. 

Her hair was pulled back from her face and she was wearing an apron dusted with flour.

“Percy?” She cupped his face in her hands, wiping away a stray tear with her thumb. “Percy, baby, what’s wrong? Why are you here? Does Chiron know you’re not at camp?”

Percy couldn’t remember the last time another person willingly touched him. He pressed his face against his mom’s shoulder and stood still for a moment. 

“Can I come in?” Percy asked, voice muffled by her shirt. 

“Of course.”

Percy stepped inside. He sat at the kitchen table, noticing his mom was making pancakes. 

She asked, “Are you hungry?”

Without waiting for his answer, she placed a plate full of blueberry pancakes in front of Percy before taking the seat across from him. Percy didn’t feel like eating, his stomach oddly quiet. 

“Percy, can you tell me what’s wrong?” 

He didn’t answer right away. His mom had always been better than most at maintaining eye contact with Percy, though in recent years even she seemed to have trouble keeping a steady gaze. There was also no way he could hide his teeth from her. So Percy bit the bullet and raised his gaze from his plate of pancakes. 

“I don’t think I belong at camp anymore.”

Mom startled for just a second, eyes widening, before her expression levelled. 

“Of- of course you do, baby. Camp is the only safe place for you.”

Percy shook his head. “But I’m not human, Mom! Look at me! I’m-”   
  
“Percy!”

He quieted, surprised that his mom raised her voice so quickly. She seemed surprised too, quickly taking a breath to calm herself. 

“Percy, whatever’s wrong, we can fix it together.”

He dared to feel a sliver of hope. To cling to the idea that he could still be loved.

“Now- I’ll drive you back to camp and-”

She faltered. They both turned as a white light began shining from nowhere. Percy realized it was an Iris message forming. And on the other side was Chiron, quickly coming into focus. 

_ “Miss Jackson, I have urgent matters to discuss with you. Percy,” _ Chiron’s eyes flickered to Percy, who was standing to the side but still visible through the IM,  _ “Percy, you’re here? Thank goodness.” _

“Chiron, what happened at camp?” Mom asked. 

“It’s nothing-” Percy tried to say. 

_ “Percy ran from camp. Search parties have been sent out into the surrounding area, but more importantly, Annabeth found something in Percy’s cabin.” _

_ No. _

“Chiron-” 

_ “Percy must have pulled out one of his own teeth.” _

Mom rounded on Percy. Her eyes were wide and teary, a hand covering her mouth. 

“You did _ what?” _

Percy took a step back. “I’m sorry! I just- I felt like I had to!” 

“What do you mean? Percy, please just talk to me.”

“I-” he buried a hand in his hair, ashamed and afraid. No one was supposed to know. “I don’t know how. I don’t know what’s been happening to me, I swear, but it’s like...”   
  
Percy wished Chiron wasn’t still here. He said, “It’s like I don’t  _ feel _ human anymore.”

His mom had that look in her eyes. The one where she might cry at a moment’s notice. 

_ “Percy,”  _ Chiron said, steadfast, _ “you must return to camp at once.” _

“Mom, don’t make me go back. Just give a day, please.”

She took his hands in her own, rubbing her thumb over one of the scars on the back of his hand.

“Percy, I want you to go back.”

She wasn’t looking at  _ him _ though, she was keeping her eyes on his hands. 

Percy pulled himself out of her hold. 

_ “Mom!” _   


Percy felt something happen, something similar to his cabin. The air rippled as he shouted, sending a wind through the apartment. The pancakes became dry and grainy, the air stale, the wallpaper fading a few shades. Even the Iris message flickered and dispelled. 

But worst of all, his mom stumbled away from him, bumping against the table and falling into a chair. She steadied herself against the table. Then they both stared in horror and confusion as a lock of her dark hair turned pale gray. Percy’s mom pinched the loose lock between her fingers, staring at how light and brittle it was now. 

“P-Percy?”

He did that to her. 

He didn’t know how or why, but he made things around him break. Rot.  _ Decay.  _ Both inanimate and living things. To what degree, he didn’t know. But he also couldn’t risk it. Percy knew in an instant he couldn’t stay here. He couldn’t hurt his mom.

But he couldn’t let himself go back to camp either. He couldn’t put Annabeth in danger. 

He sprinted from the room, hearing his mom chase after him. Percy opened the door to his bedroom and forced open the window to the fire escape. 

“Percy, stop! Please don’t go!” Mom shouted. 

Percy stood on the railing of the fire escape, looking back to see his mom standing in his bedroom doorway. She shook her head, eyes pleading. 

He swallowed. “I’m sorry, Mom. I love you.”

He jumped. Halfway to the ground, Onyx burst from the shadows and caught him. Together, they hit the ground and vanished into the darkness. 

* * *

This felt very much like the start of Percy’s first quest ever. It was night, he was cold, and he was more or less lost. No backup plan, no phone, and no adult supervision either. 

He was in a forest somewhere in upstate New York, on the outskirts of some camping grounds. Earlier, Percy had broken into the on-site store to steal a winter jacket, some boots, a backpack, supplies and toiletries, and some food and water. There were also some glasses with tinted lenses, probably meant for hunting, but he snagged one of those too. Percy also found a shed that held spare tents, and even though he had no idea how to pitch one on his own, he figured it out eventually. He wasn’t proud of the fact he resorted to stealing, but he needed shit if he was going to survive. 

At least he had his pack. They didn’t mind his puny campfire or being out in the wilderness. Ruby and Alexander, the two smallest hellhounds, were curled up against his side and back, keeping him warm. 

Onyx sat with his back to the fire, a silent watchman. As did the two second largest hounds, Abby and Andrea. Percy thought that, maybe, they expected a hunt. But for once, he wasn’t hungry. 

“I don’t know what to do,” he told them. Ruby’s ears perked up as he spoke.

Percy sniffled. “I don’t think I can survive on my own forever, but I don’t know if I can go back to camp.”

Alexander, a hellhound the size of a great dane, raised his head and licked Percy’s face. He wrapped his arms around Alexander’s body, grateful for something soft and warm to hold. 

When the fire started dying, Percy put it out completely and curled up inside the tent. He didn’t have a sleeping bag, but he did steal a tinfoil blanket from the shop. Plus he had two hellhounds to keep him warm. 

Percy hoped that with everything awful that had happened to him that day, he’d at least sleep without some nightmares. So he couldn’t immediately tell if he was dreaming or having a nightmare when an ordinary high school materialized around him. 

Or, well, it looked normal at first glance. As the world came into focus, Percy saw walls of blackened brick and trophy cases displaying rusted battle axes and swords. There were military banners hanging from the ceiling.

“Percy!”

He turned. Grover was standing before him, a big smile on his lips. 

“Grover?”

“Sorry for the short notice, but I had to use our empathy link to send word as soon as possible.”

“Huh? What’s going on?”

Grover squinted, even though Percy was right in front of him. “Weird, the link seems unstable. You look really blurry…”

He cocked his head to the side, but then seemed to forget about it. “Look, Percy. I found two really powerful half-bloods in the school I’m in. Ordinarly, I’d get them to camp on my own. But there’s also a monster in the school, a really strong smelling one, and I think he’s onto me.”

“Where are you?”

Grover gave Percy the name of a town in Maine, as well as the name of the school. 

“Westover Hall?” Percy repeated. 

“Yes! It’s this big military school in an old castle. You can’t miss it.”

Percy hesitated. He didn’t have any money on him, so no public transportation. He had his pack, but he had never tried to take them such a long distance before. Still, his best friend was counting on him. 

“I’ll leave right now.”

Grover looked relieved. “Oh, thank Pan.”

Then a flash of confusion flickered over his face. “You’re at camp, aren’t you? Why not wait until morning? Take some other campers as backup?”   
  
“I’m, um, actually on a quest right now. But it’s nothing major, and it can wait. I’ll see you soon, G-man.”

Grover nodded and the dream began dissolving. Percy startled as he woke, disoriented by the sudden darkness. Ruby and Alexander started barking, alarmed. 

“Shush, shush.” Percy stood and brushed off his clothes. He unzipped the tent and found the pack asleep around his tent, though some were now rousing from the noise. Percy rubbed his eyes and thought that, maybe, he’d gotten an hour of sleep at most. It’d have to do.

“Onyx.” 

His second in command stood at attention, crimson eyes trained on Percy. Deciding the tent would be too bulky to carry, Percy chose to leave it as he used a keychain flashlight from the store to go over the contents of his backpack. Three bags of trail mix and jerky, two large bottles of water, his tin foil blanket, a roll of toilet paper, and a travel-sized first aid kit. He was ready to go. 

“Come on,” he said, “We’re heading north.”

The pack raised their heads to howl into the night, and then they were off. 

* * *

When Sally woke up in the morning, she didn’t recognize where she was. She sat up, taking in pale blue walls decorated with photographs of countless children in bronze armor and orange shirts. 

She twisted the well-worn sheets in her hands. Right. She was in the Big House. Inside of Camp Half-Blood. She had driven here as fast as she could after Percy ran from home, hoping Chiron knew where he was. But the search parties hadn’t come back until late at night, with no clue as to where her baby boy was. 

Sally had been devastated, and though she and Chiron seldom ever spoke, he kindly offered to let her stay the night. A part of her hoped that Percy would come back in the morning. As she left the guest room and went to find Chiron, she began to feel that that wasn’t the case. If Percy was here, she was sure she would have known by now.

“Chiron?” She called. 

No response. Sally opened the front door and heard voices coming from around the porch. She turned the corner and paused when she saw Chiron sitting at a round table with a man in a tiger-stripe Hawaiian shirt. Annabeth was standing off to the side. In front of them was an Iris message. Sally immediately recognized Grover on the other end. 

_ “-dangerous here! It’s absolutely an emergency!”  _ Grover said,  _ “I knew I should have sent the distress call sooner.” _

Chiron spoke up, “Calm yourself, Grover. We’ll assemble a group willing to take on this emergency mission and send them as soon as possible.”

Grover chewed on his lower lip,  _ “Okay, good. I’ve already talked to Percy, but I think we’ll still need backup.” _

Percy?

“Grover, you’ve seen Percy?” She asked, stepping forward. She heard the man in the orange shirt grumble something about mortal women. 

_ “Miss Jackson! Oh, uh, hi! What are you doing at camp?” _

“Grover,” Annabeth cut in,  _ “have you seen Percy?” _

There was a sharp sense of urgency in her voice, but her eyes conveyed a sort of stormy calm.

Grover looked between them.  _ “Uh, yeah. In his dream last night, through our empathy link. But he said he was already on a quest. Is something wrong?” _

“Percy went missing yesterday,” Sally said, voice forcefully steady, “do you think he’s headed for you?”   
  
Grover’s eyes widened. He swallowed and said,  _ “Y-yes! He said he was coming.” _

Sally planted a hand on the table, leaning forward and fixing her eyes on Grover. 

“Where are you?”   


He looked to Chiron, who nodded. 

Grover said,  _ “I’m in Bar Harbor, Maine. At a place called Westover Hall. It’s a big castle, you won’t miss it.” _

Chiron spoke up, “Very well. Annabeth, I’m assuming you want to go?”   
  
“Of course.”

“Then we must see if we can assemble a rescue party for Grover, the other half-bloods, and Percy.”

Chiron stroked his beard. “A time sensitive mission like this can’t be left up to chance. I’ll have Argus drive you.”

“No need,” Sally cut in, “I can drive them.”

Everyone, including Grover, stared at her. Sally refused to budge. Twice already, she had to bear the knowledge that her son had undergone life-threatening perils. Sally just couldn’t let it happen again. No matter what, she was going to find her son.

* * *

Percy figured he left for Maine at around one in the morning. He could only guess when he stopped briefly at a rest stop off a highway, maybe half an hour into his trip, for something important. A big, yellowed clock hung over the entrance, indicating it was almost two in the morning. 

The rest stop was desolate, with only a custodian and a person behind the bar at the twenty-four hour cafe hanging around. The gift shop, holding his prize, was darkened and barred by a metal grate locked to the floor. Percy used the bathroom, pretending that there was nothing odd about a kid walking into a rest stop alone at 2 am. He quickly left afterward, eyes fixed on the ground. 

Once he was sure where the gift shop was, he had Ruby shadow travel him through the wall. Quietly, he moved through the darkness and reached the rack holding pamphlets and maps. Neither employee noticed Percy as he took a map of New York, as well as a guide for the entire east coast. Back outside, Percy affirmed that they were headed in the right direction. 

For hours, Percy travelled with his hellhounds. Sometimes riding on Onyx as they sprinted through wilderness, and sometimes by shadow travel. Always at a distance from major highways, but close enough to civilization that he could get his bearings with relative ease. 

Moving long-distance via hellhound was a wild ride, a stomach-plunging dive from sprinting to falling darkness, not as consistent in speed as a bus or train, but an absolute rush. 

At dawn, they had to rest for almost an hour outside a gas station somewhere in northern Massachusetts. They’d been travelling all night, but oddly enough, Percy didn’t feel tired. Maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe it was his nerves. 

But the hellhounds were exhausted, slowing and clearly in need of rest. Percy used his ability to sense water to find a small creek, which his pack delighted in. Percy also let them run free for a while to hunt some deer nearby while he ate trail mix and dried jerky. For some reason, Percy felt far more comfortable eating monster meat than wild animals. At least griffins and drakons didn’t carry diseases. (As far as he knew.) 

Once they all had their fill, they were off again. 

* * *

The camp van was deathly quiet. 

Annabeth and Thalia sat in the row closest to the front seat, where Sally Jackson had been driving for an hour already. In the row behind them were overnight bags packed with clothes, food, nectar, and ambrosia. And a crossbow with a quiver of celestial bronze-tipped arrows, requested not by Annabeth or Thalia, but by Percy’s mom. 

Sometimes, she saw Percy’s mom touching a lock of her hair. Not brushing it away, but toying with it between her fingers. 

Annabeth had brought a book she was supposed to be reading for school, but found herself too antsy to actually read it. Her mind kept wandering, drifting from how panicked Grover was to the sight of Percy with godsdamned  _ fangs _ . How did he think he could keep those a secret? Or did he not even think that far ahead?   
  
Percy had been so panicked when she saw, immediately assuming his only option was to run away. 

Annabeth bit her lip. Maybe she didn’t help the situation. But… she felt nauseous just remembering the sight of Percy’s eyes. His aura had definitely gotten stronger, brimming with dread and the distinct sense of impending doom. And now Seaweed Brain was heading for Maine on his own, with no one to watch his back. 

Gods, how were they going to get Grover, the demigods,  _ and _ Percy? What could Annabeth even say to calm him down?

_ Face it. I’m just a mistake. _

How do you calm someone so convinced they didn’t belong?

Annabeth prayed she had the strength to at least look him in the eye. 

The van jolted, startling her. Thalia was fiddling with the silver bracelet Annabeth knew was secretly a shield. The nerves radiating off Miss Jackson were palpable. After another half hour of driving in complete silence, Annabeth snapped. 

“Miss Jackson?”   
  
“Hm?”

Percy never hid how much he loved his mom, or how highly he thought of her. 

“You’re working on a novel, right? Uh… how’s it going?”   
  
Annabeth cringed from her own attempt at small talk. But at least it seemed to work. 

“It’s going well, I’ve started taking night classes for writing a year ago,” Annabeth saw her eyes flickering toward the rear view mirror, “how did you know?”

“Percy mentioned it once,” Annabeth said, voice becoming softer. 

Thalia shot her a look, seemingly asking,  _ You sure about this? _   


But Percy’s mom didn’t seem to mind. She was a lot like Annabeth’s siblings at camp, the ones who liked to talk things out when something upset them. Before either Annabeth or Thalia knew it, Miss Jackson was babbling almost breathlessly about her son.

“Oh, Percy is a wonderful beta reader, you know? It’s hard for him to sit still but he loves to talk all about my story ideas when he’s home.”

She let out a nervous laugh, “He’s not afraid to tell me when I’ve gotten something wrong. I’m writing a historical fantasy, a-and he knew how sixteenth century ships worked. All the- all the technical terms and how to steer them. Did you know that? It must come from his dad’s side.”

Annabeth realized with a start how little Percy told his mom of their adventures. He only knew all that because they stole Blackbeard’s ship from Circe’s island in the Sea of Monsters. Clearly, Sally Jackson knew her son was often thrown from deadly situation to deadly situation, but Annabeth could also understand why Percy would want to keep the details secret. 

“You know, Percy was so cute as a baby,” Miss Jackson started, suddenly switching topics, “I took him to the beach as a toddler and right away, he headed for the water.”

She laughed softly, “I never taught him how to swim, he just always knew. I don’t think he even knows he never had to be taught.”

Thalia and Annabeth shared a look. After a beat, Thalia asked, “So Percy has always liked the water?”

Thalia had a thing about being in the air, ironically. 

Miss Jackson laughed, louder this time, “Oh, he’s always  _ loved _ it. I used to take him on vacations to Montauk every summer. He’d play in the waves and sometimes, I’d see a wild hippocampus or a nymph in the water with him. They’d give him things, like pearls or these little shimmering scales.”

She paused, “He always wanted me to have them. As gifts.”

On one hand, it was weird hearing stories about little baby Percy while on a quest to bring him back home. On the other hand, getting Miss Jackson to talk seemed to put her more at ease. 

On a third hand, Annabeth could see the remaining tension lingering in her shoulders and arms. She could see the white-knuckled grip Miss Jackson had on the steering wheel. Miss Jackson wasn’t trying to remind Annabeth and Thalia that Percy was still her son, that he could be reasoned with and saved. She seemed to be reminding herself. 

As Thalia kept talking to her, Annabeth’s thoughts began to drift again. Percy had a mom that clearly cared about him, how could he believe he had to run away so easily?

* * *

Grover was right, Westover Hall was almost impossible to miss. It sat on a cliff above the town like a giant cartoon castle overlooking the stormy, gray ocean. Percy dismounted, Onyx clearly exhausted from their trek. 

Percy knelt and ran his fingers through the soft fur behind his massive, floppy ear. 

“You did so good, boy. Thank you.” 

Onyx woofed softly, closing his crimson eyes as Percy scratched him. The rest of the pack stood in the surrounding forest, pacing and panting. Some were laying in the snow, rolling in the fluffy coldness. 

“You all stay here. I’ll call you if I need you.”

Percy let his backpack fall to the ground, rolling his shoulders after hours of carrying it. He didn’t know if the hellhounds actually understood him like horses could, but his pack didn’t follow as he exited the woods. He glanced back, finding them melting into the shadows of the darkening sky. All that were left were their piercing red eyes, all of them watching as Percy continued onward. 

As Percy stepped out of the woods and found a cobblestone path, he raised one hand and snapped his fingers. The Mist came in a whirlwind, hopefully putting in the work to cloak his eyes, teeth, and demigod aura. He wasn’t worried about mortals, but he needed to keep a watch out for the monster. 

Percy trekked on, knowing he didn’t look anything like a typical student in his muddied clothes and windswept hair. Nevertheless, he found the front of the school and slipped inside. It looked just like his dream, and from somewhere far away, he could hear upbeat music playing. 

With no better idea of where to go, Percy started heading for the music. It seemed like it was coming from the end of the hall. The metal double doors were open, revealing what looked like a gymnasium. 

“Percy?”   
  
Grover appeared from behind one of the columns lining the wall. He gave Percy a familiar nervous smile, eyes skittering from Percy to the ceiling pretty quickly. Grover raised his head and smelled the air. 

“You smell weird, dude. Like... _ dogs?” _

“It’s complicated.”

For a second, Percy was scared Grover would see through the Mist. That his fangs would be a dead giveaway that something was wrong. But his training must have paid off, or the Mist was being amplified by the number of humans nearby. Either way, Grover didn’t notice a thing as he ushered Percy over. 

They crouched in the shadows, which wasn’t hard. The school was dark and cold and kind of creepy. Percy honestly wouldn’t have been surprised if a ghost started walking through one of the walls.

“The two demigods are inside the gym,” Grover said, “there’s a dance going on, so they won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.”

“Okay, and where’s the monster?”   
  
Grover stifled a nervous goat bleat. “Also in the gym.”   
  
Great. Percy ran a hand over his face, his hours of travel starting to weigh on him. “Okay, okay. We’ve been in worse situations, right? At least this time, no one’s getting married.”   
  
“Hey!”

Percy couldn’t help himself. He smiled. He’d been through Hades, metaphorically speaking, over the course of the past two days. But this, being in some strange place with monsters on his tail and basically no backup, was familiar. 

“So what’s the game plan?” He asked. 

Grover glanced toward the front entrance where Percy came. “Well, I was thinking we’d lay low until the dance was close to ending, in about an hour. When everyone starts leaving to head back to the dorms, we meet up with the demigods and bring them out the back. I’ve already stashed a bag of food and clothes behind the gym, just in case we have to make a quick escape.”

Percy nodded. Then his stomach growled, cutting through the silence. Percy pressed a palm to his abdomen, unsure if it was ordinary hunger or  _ his _ hunger. Either way, he had bigger things to worry about. 

Inside the gym, Percy spotted their three targets pretty quickly. There was a heavy aura in the air, exuding from the two kids sitting on the bleachers in the corner. There was also the distinct smell of monster coming off the guy Grover identified as the vice principal, Mr. Thorn. 

Percy and Grover separated to keep their smells from becoming too noticeable. And for a while, he just mingled with the mortal kids in the gym. Percy hadn’t been in an ordinary school for over a year, and was surprised by how much he missed the smell of dusty gyms and overripe boy’s body spray. 

Every once in a while, he’d glance at the two kids. They were apparently siblings, but one looked older than the other. Even though Percy technically had a brother himself, it was hard for him to imagine a god loving a mortal enough to want to have two kids. 

Percy killed time by nursing a glass of cold fruit punch and a plate of chips, the most he had eaten in hours, when Grover made his way over to him. 

“It’s almost time.”

“Good.”

Percy chugged the last of his punch before tossing out his cup and plate. One hand reached for riptide, comforted by the feeling of the pen in his jacket pocket. His stomach was still growling, teetering closer to this hunger being one of  _ those _ cravings, when the air in the gym shifted. 

Percy didn’t know how he knew. He just got the sense that something powerful was close by. He tried to turn and scan the crowd, but Grover grabbed his arm. 

“Uh, dude, look alive! Mr. Thorn might try to make a move.”

“Okay, I get it,” Percy said, “but…”

He trailed off. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. It felt like being rubbed by a balloon. Static. 

He turned, despite Grover tugging his sleeve. Annabeth and Thalia were standing at the entrance to the gym, eyes scanning the crowd. 

Percy whipped back to stare at Grover. 

“What are they doing here?”   


“Well,” Grover spoke, eyes wide, “I contacted camp after I sent you my dream message. It was an emergency, and I thought I’d need more help!”   
  
“But you couldn’t tell me that they were coming?”   
  
Percy tried to play it cool, but there was no reason for Grover to not mention that other demigods would be coming. Not unless...

“Percy, they said you ran from camp. I just- I didn’t want to spook you.”

Percy scowled and took a step back. He ran a hand over his face, knowing he had a time limit of seconds before someone, either the monster or Annabeth or Thalia, noticed him. 

“Get the kids. I’ll handle the monster.”   
  
“But Percy-!”

They both turned toward where the di Angelos were and stopped in their tracks. The bleachers were empty. 

* * *

Annabeth knew Percy’s aura well enough to know he was close. Ironic, really. The more lost and anxious she felt, the closer she knew he was. 

“Do you see Grover or Percy?” she asked Thalia. 

“No, but keep a lookout for the monster.”

Annabeth nodded. It turned out they didn’t have to wait long.

Just as Percy’s aura started ebbing and it felt like she could breathe freely, Grover appeared and pulled them to the side. 

“Percy’s gone!”

_ “What?” _ Annabeth asked. “So he’s here?”

Grover nodded. “The two demigods and the monster are gone too! We have to find them before anything happens.”

Annabeth and Thalia shared a look. Her friend’s stormy, blue eyes pierced the dim light of the gym.

“Grover, look for Percy. Annabeth, come with me. I’ll search for the monster and the demigods, but I might need you to act as backup.”

They nodded and split up. Annabeth pulled out her cap and put it on, turning invisible. 

“Still with me?” Thalia asked.

“Always.”

They found a door at the back of the gym that led to another hallway. Pushing it open, Annabeth noticed it was colder there than in the rest of the building. Either faulty heating, or someone had recently let in the winter air. 

“Stay behind me,” Thalia spoke, voice barely a whisper. 

Annabeth stuck to the side of the hall as Thalia slowly moved forward. The shadows that clung to the old brick walls made Annabeth feel jumpier than usual. They turned a corner, finding nothing unusual. The hall only led to an exit outside, but when Thalia pushed the door open, they found at least a few sets of footprints in the snow. 

_ “Fuck,” _ Thalia hissed. She started sprinting, Annabeth close behind. If the monster had the kids, then there was no telling what’d happen to them now.

As they raced into the woods, Thalia tapped her wrist, her silver bracelet turning into a shield. She unclipped the mace can from her belt, the canister elongating into a silver spear. 

Annabeth felt for the knife strapped to her thigh. 

There was barely enough light to see where they were going. But without warning, Thalia slowed and stopped. She crouched behind a tree, gesturing for Annabeth to also stop. They stood at a distance from a clearing by a cliff, and Annabeth could distantly hear the sound of the ocean. 

“A whole semester I waited to seize this opportunity!” A man said, “Do you know how tedious the work of a vice principal is?”

Annabeth squinted, spotting the man speaking, as well as two kids. 

“Mr. Thorn! I don’t understand!” A girl said. 

“Silence! Soon, it will all be clear. Now, if you’d like to remain alive, you will do as I say. Otherwise,”

Annabeth couldn’t see what happened, but she heard the sound of something hitting the ground with a sharp  _ thawk. _ A boy yelped. 

“I may do something drastic,” the man finished. 

Thalia glanced over her shoulder, at where she must have thought Annabeth was. She gestured with her head for Annabeth to move forward. 

Right. Annabeth took a deep breath and started edging closer to the clearing. By the light of the moon, she could see that the man had something sticking out of his back. Wings? No, a tail. 

A  _ scorpion _ tail. 

It was a manticore, and the spikes they launched from their tails were both deadly and poisonous. Annabeth steeled herself and edged forward, dagger drawn. She could feel eyes on her back as Thalia readied her own attack.

Just before Annabeth could lunge, she heard a hellhound howl collide with the call of a hunting horn. 

Chaos broke out. 

Just as a silver arrow, a silver arrow _ Annabeth recognized, _ pierced the manticore's shoulder, a hellhound broke through the shadows. On the other side of the clearing, the Hunters of Artemis burst from the woods. Cloaked in silver parkas and armed with glowing white arrows, they shot down the manticore’s spikes mid-air. As Thalia lunged for a hellhound, Annabeth rolled forward and pushed the two kids to the ground, getting them out of the line of fire. 

Annabeth was hit with a terrifying sense of loss. Of dread. The smell of the sea strengthened. 

She rolled over and realized the massive blotch of darkness obscuring the manticore was actually a hellhound the size of an SUV. And on top of it was Percy.

“Hold your fire!” She shouted to the Hunters, hoping they’d listen to her. Percy whipped around at the sound of Annabeth’s voice, hitting her with a fresh wave of unfiltered dread as she stared into his unshielded eyes. 

Annabeth’s mind was flooded with thoughts and feelings that weren’t her own: unerring anguish, the fear of being lost in pitch black darkness, the gut-wrenching sensation of falling through nothingness, realizing how finite her own life was- 

She snapped out of it when she heard the girl next to her shriek as the boy broke into frantic sobs. Percy scowled and turned his attention back to the fight. 

A hellhound yelped, a silver arrow sticking out of its flank. It staggered, still alive but in pain. Annabeth heard Thalia swear loudly from the other side of the massive hellhound. 

“Get out of here!” Percy shouted. His voice sounded rougher than usual. 

He jumped from the hellhound’s back as it evaporated back into the shadows. The rest of the pack vanished from the clearing with a thundering of footsteps, silver arrows flying after them. 

Percy landed on the manticore's back, arms wrapped around its neck. 

“Idiot boy! Get out of the way!” A voice shouted. 

Percy didn’t listen. 

The moon and scattered glowing arrows shed just enough light for Annabeth to see what was happening. She watched in silent horror as Percy bit into the flesh of the manticore’s neck, right where his human head met lion body. Blood spurted from the wound as the monster wailed. 

She was helpless to stop them as the manticore began staggering. 

_ “Percy!”  _ Someone else shouted.

It jarred him enough that he froze, his hold loosening. The manticore roared, grabbing Percy and attempting to throw him off. 

For a single second, they moved as one. 

Annabeth watched as the manticore lost his footing, plummeting off the cliff and taking Percy with him. 

She didn’t remember running to the cliff, but when she looked down into the endless depths of the darkened sea, she couldn’t see anything at all. Percy had vanished.

It took Annabeth a moment to realize someone was crying. She turned, finding Percy’s mom kneeling at the edge of the cliff, her crossbow laying in the snow next to her.


	7. bound by delicate dread

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GOD DAM IT THIS CHAPTER IS SO LONG. I legit read Titan's Curse in like 2 or 3 sittings so i kind of rewrote the whole story in one chapter but I also vibe with it. That being said, I might take a break from this fic for a while because I have midterms and stuff to write. I also want to finish rereading PJO and then come back to this story.
> 
> (Title from White Ball by Miracle Musical.)

In the moment right after Percy fell into the ocean, the clearing was still. No hellhounds or arrows flying. No manticore shooting spikes. Just the sound of the wind and Percy’s mom crying. Then, slowly, one of the huntresses stepped forward. She was younger than Annabeth, maybe twelve years old, with auburn hair and silver eyes. Artemis, goddess of the hunt. 

She knelt besides Percy’s mom and touched her shoulder. 

“Miss Jackson, I presume?”

Percy’s mom looked up. She stared at Artemis for a moment. 

“I- I remember you,” she said. 

Artemis nodded, a faint smile forming on her lips. “Good, I’m glad.”

Then the goddess stood and turned toward a tall girl with a silver circlet woven in her hair. Zoë, the lieutenant of the Hunt. From somewhere nearby, Annabeth heard Thalia muttering swears under her breath. 

“Zoë, let’s make camp here for the rest of the night. And give our guests something to eat.”

Zoë’s gaze darted toward Annabeth and Thalia before she nodded. “Yes, my lady.”

In a matter of moments, a semi-circle of silver tents were erected, a campfire made, and a pack of white wolves summoned to guard the perimeter of the camp. Annabeth, Grover, and Thalia reunited. Grover and Thalia gave the new demigods, Nico and Bianca di Angelo, a rundown of the fact that  _ yes,  _ the Greek gods were real, and _ yes,  _ there  _ was _ a safe place for them to live. 

But camp wasn’t the only safe place for girls. 

Annabeth sat by Percy’s mom as she held a cup of hot chocolate in her hands. A blanket was draped over her shoulders as she stared into the campfire.

“My baby boy,” she said softly, “...he’s gone.”

“No,” a voice spoke. It was Artemis. 

“Your son is not lost, Sally Jackson. He is alive, somewhere. I would have felt if a demigod of his strength had died.”

“Right, and Percy is also a son of Poseidon. Falling into the ocean wouldn’t hurt him,” Annabeth said. 

Percy’s mom hardly looked any better after hearing the news. Besides, falling off a cliff with an angry manticore was far more dangerous. 

“I’d actually like to speak to both of you in my tent,” Artemis said. Miss Jackson nodded and stood. Together, she and Annabeth followed the goddess into her tent. 

“Sit, make yourselves comfortable.”

They did. Artemis sat across from them on a silk cushion. A silver deer approached and laid down by her side, resting its head in her lap. 

The goddess stared at Percy’s mom with a mix of sympathy and something akin to sorrow. “Sally Jackson, it’s been quite some time since we last encountered each other.”

Annabeth asked, “When have you two met?”

“Oh,” Percy’s mom said, eyes unfocused, “...it was a long time ago.”   
  
“About twenty years,” Artemis agreed. 

Miss Jackson blinked, eyes focusing a tiny bit. “That’s right. I was camping with some friends from high school. We were in the middle of nowhere, and… and we thought we heard a bear moving around outside our cabin.”

Her eyes became even clearer. “But I could see it for what it was. I knew it was a hellhound. It wasn’t hunting  _ us,  _ but it could tell I knew it was there.”

Artemis smiled. “You were very brave, especially for a mortal. You slew the hellhound with a crossbow, did you not?”

“It belonged to my friend’s brother, I think.”

Artemis stroked the head of her deer fondly. She turned her attention to Annabeth, “That hellhound was the last of a pack my Hunters and I were pursuing. I was so impressed when I witnessed a mortal maiden killing a monster, I offered Sally Jackson a place in my hunt.”

Annabeth’s eyes widened. She stared at Percy’s mom, seeing as how she began to hold her cup of hot chocolate tighter. 

“I said no, because my uncle was dying and I had to be there for him.”

“Such a shame,” Artemis said, “that you had to decline.”

“I don’t regret it,” Miss Jackson said, then added, “ma’am.”

Artemis laughed, not unkindly. “Please, I know you mean no disrespect. Though unfortunate you couldn’t join us, you’ve done well to raise a respectful son. But regarding Percy’s fate…”

The goddess frowned. “He is alive, but that is not what troubles me. Prey I haven’t hunted in thousands of years have begun returning, monsters I had nearly forgotten. I fear forces are at work to bring these new beasts into play, and Percy has been captured as a pawn.”

Artemis turned her attention back to Annabeth. “I understand you are interested in joining my hunt. You are a brave and wise girl, Annabeth Chase. And I fear that I will be in dire need of more Hunters in the coming years.”

Annabeth felt the weight of Miss Jackson’s stare on her shoulders. Her hands curled into fists in her lap.

* * *

When Percy woke up, he had no idea where he was. The air was thick and warm, fog curling all around him. The ground was made of dark gravel that felt jagged and coarse beneath his palms. Immediately, Percy pulled off his winter jacket, noticing the back had been slashed by claws. 

He looked around, squinting against the dim light and heavy fog, but couldn’t make much out. Here and there, there were broken bases of Greek columns or shattered remains of marble statues, but nothing more. He tried to look up, but there was no sky. Only a hanging darkness not that far above him, like a cave. It made him feel claustrophobic, so Percy kept his eyes fixed ahead.

He left his jacket behind as he began a trek up the hill in front of him. Percy drew his sword as a precaution, wary of anything lurking in the shadows. Wherever he was, if he survived and was brought here, then maybe the manticore was also alive. Briefly, Percy wondered if his pack was in hearing range. 

At the crest of the hill, he came to a stop. It looked like he was in a massive chamber with more broken columns and ruins. The darkness from above seemed to compress and form the shape of a water drop ready to fall. But kneeling on the rocky ground in the center of the chamber, keeping the darkness at bay, was a blond guy in tattered clothes. 

“Luke,” Percy said. 

His former camp counselor looked up. His face was pale and drenched with sweat. 

“P-percy, please help me.”

The cavern trembled, a groan rippling through the air. Percy scanned the room, looking for signs of a trap. He approached Luke with his sword drawn. 

“What is this? Where are we?”   
  
Luke didn’t answer immediately. He pleaded with his eyes, but Percy wasn’t going to fall for his tricks so easily. 

“I’m sorry… for everything, Percy. I just… I just wanted…”

More curious than anything else, Percy knelt in front of Luke. And he really did look awful, muscles spasming as he held the weight of the darkness above his head. 

“Help me… Percy. I won’t last much longer.”

“Yeah, I think I’ll have to pass on this one. But thanks for the offer.”

Percy wasn’t in the mood for this shit. He had brought the full force of his pack to save those demigods, only for them to be attacked themselves. Percy had recognized the girl with red hair among them as Artemis, though she didn’t seem particularly bothered as her Hunters fired at Percy.

Then there was Annabeth, who stared at him like just seeing him was a fate worse than death. 

“Percy,” Luke spoke, voice shaking, “please...give me a second chance.”

Percy hesitated. He stared at Luke, wondering what kind of trick he was pulling. It couldn’t be much, seeing as how Luke really did look like he was on death’s door. The cavern groaned again, the fog churning, and Percy got a bad feeling in his gut.

“Answer me this first. When you look at me, do you get scared?”

Luke’s eyes flickered toward him for the briefest of moments before they darted away. He swallowed, reluctant to answer. 

Well, it was good to know that whatever Percy was, he could at least scare his enemies with just a look. That might be helpful in the future. Percy pocketed Riptide. He placed his hand next to Luke’s. He felt the darkness, could feel the thrum of this  _ force _ pushing down on his hand. 

“You owe me for this,” he said, as if they were old friends. 

By then, Percy had an idea of what was going on. The cavern was shaking now, maybe anticipating a change of hands, or somehow knowing Luke was close to death. But it didn’t sound right. It didn’t sound like this place was made of earth. The sounds echoed less, the walls didn’t really seem to keep the wind out. 

Percy placed himself under the darkness and pushed up with his shoulder and arms. The full weight of the sky came crashing down on him, sending him to his knees with a breathless wheeze. 

In a sense, he was right. The mass above him was not the ceiling of a cave. It was the condensed essence of the sky bearing down on him. The sky itself was his cave with fog as thick as solid walls and an atmosphere pressing down on him with more weight than he could ever describe. His bones locked in place despite his whole body trembling.

Percy groaned, eyes watering from the agony of holding the sky.

Next to him, Luke collapsed on the ground. 

_ Come on, _ Percy thought, _ Get up and help me.  _

Slowly, Luke pushed himself to his knees. Then to his feet. Then he began stumbling away.

_ “You fucker,”  _ Percy said through gritted teeth. It was the most he could manage.

Luke stopped and turned, dark bags under his eyes. He looked too exhausted to even try pulling an evil mastermind smirk. 

“Thanks, Percy,” was all he said. Then he disappeared over the crest of the hill. 

“Luke! Come back, you-” Percy raised his voice a fraction above a whisper. He tried to rise, only to feel the weight of the sky bear down on him twice as hard as before. Percy screamed through clenched teeth, shoulders shaking. He squeezed his eyes shut. 

He wished he had his pack. He wished he had Grover and Annabeth. He wished he had stayed home or at camp. Anything was better than being alone, stranded and imprisoned and alone. 

* * *

His son was gone. 

Poseidon always had a unique connection to his children. If he extended his senses, he could gain a rough idea of where they were in the world. Under each of his children’s skin was a storm. A hurricane brewing, an earthquake slumbering, a perfect maelstrom waiting to be unleashed. They almost seemed to call to him, saying that they were churning and breathing and  _ alive. _

Percy started his life as the smallest, most shallow and feeble of puddles. As he grew, his power expanded until he became a merciless storm in the shape of a human. Poseidon, though he couldn’t interact with his son as often as he’d like, kept tabs on Percy via his connection to his son. 

And one night, Percy simply vanished. Only a few times in his life had Percy disappeared from Poseidon’s senses. The first time, it was when his son was born premature and weak. It had terrified the sea god, made him fear that his baby boy had died before his time. Percy was older now, and frequently went on dangerous adventures.

_ Percy will return,  _ the sea god said to himself. He just had to wait. Maybe Percy was on a quest. Maybe he was someplace with Mist so dense, it was covering his aura. 

Percy wasn’t dead. If he was, Poseidon would have heard from his brother. 

He waited until dawn, growing more and more anxious. Percy had never vanished for more than a few hours at most. By the time the sun began to rise, his son, his little storm, was still beyond his reach. Despite knowing the consequences of his rash behavior, Poseidon couldn’t bring himself to wait any longer. 

He left his palace below the ocean, transporting himself to the shore of Camp Half-Blood. 

Just in time to see a fireball that was Apollo’s sun chariot crashing into the camp. What in the name of the heavens was going on?   


Poseidon masked his presence, striding through the camp unbeknownst to the campers. Apollo’s chariot, now a bus rather than a convertible, was sitting half-submerged in the camp lake. Athena’s girl, the one Percy liked, as well as Zeus’ Greek child and a satyr came stumbling out, followed by Apollo himself and the Hunters of Artemis. Chiron came bounding across the snowy ground, alarm in his eyes. 

“Annabeth. Thalia. What happened?”

Zeus’ girl looked like she was about to be sick. Before anyone could say anything, Apollo fixed his gaze on where Poseidon stood. He nudged his sunglasses down and grinned.    
  
“Yo, Uncle P! What’s up? You here to drop off some kids too?”

Damn it. Poseidon scowled at his nephew as he revealed himself. 

“I beg of you, Apollo, to one day learn how to read the room.”

“But we’re outside.”

The lake swelled, a wave splitting in two as it wrapped around the sun god and pulled him into the shallows of the water. Poseidon turned to Chiron.

“Chiron, where is my son?”   


Poseidon had precious little time before someone, namely Zeus, realized he was in direct contact with their children. But to his surprise, it was Athena’s girl who spoke up. 

“Percy is missing, my lord. We were on a quest to find him, but he was lost during a fight.”   
  
Poseidon narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean _ lost?” _

The girl didn’t flinch under his brooding gaze. “He fell off a cliff, but Artemis herself confirmed he wasn’t dead. We have to believe he’s been captured by… by Luke’s forces. My lord.”   
  
Poseidon frowned, running a hand through his beard. He scanned the growing crowd, realizing that Apollo’s twin was missing.

“Where is Artemis now?”

“She is seeking out a hunt alone,” a girl, Artemis’ lieutenant, replied. 

Percy was missing, and now Artemis was without her Hunters? Poseidon couldn’t help but think something odd was happening. He considered where his son could be. The only place within their realm he was blind to was in select areas of the west coast, where some of Kronos’ forces were most heavily gathered. It could be where Artemis was headed. 

Poseidon looked to the old centaur. “Chiron, I expect you to see to this matter.”   


“Of course, my lord.”

“Good.” 

Poseidon had much to do. He would have to send out his reserve units, cyclopes, naiads, mermaids and all, to search for his son. He vanished from the camp without another word, ignoring his nephew’s sputtering protests. 

* * *

When he could ignore the churning shadows and ominous rumbles, the sweat on his brow, and the tremble in his entire body, it was almost like he was dreaming. Percy often had weird and mildly prophetic dreams before, some even portraying events as they happened in real time. Even though he couldn’t sleep, the endless seconds minutes hours days(?) left plenty of time for his mind to wander. 

Through the haze of pain and breathless straining, Percy saw Camp Half-Blood. He saw the dining pavilion. Even though it was just a vision, Percy could feel the heavy, somber aura in the air. But the table reserved for Artemis’ cabin, the one that always sat empty, was now full of girls. The Hunters. Percy scowled at them, not forgetting how they shot at his pack. 

But more importantly, he saw Annabeth. She was alive, and she was safe. He wanted to feel relieved, and maybe he would have been if not for his current circumstances.

Maybe because of his exhaustion, or maybe because he wasn’t fully asleep, his vision was too muffled for Percy to make out what anyone was saying. His stomach growled, making him feel like Tantalus with all the food laid out on the tables before him. Percy tried to distract himself by scanning the crowd. Annabeth was sitting alone at the Athena table, a strange sight for Percy. Thalia was also sitting alone at another table. Percy saw the boy from Westover sitting with the Stolls. For a second, he was afraid his sister was dead. But no- the other half-blood was sitting with the Hunters. 

After a while, Chiron stomped his hoof and called for attention. The campers and Hunters started filing out of the pavilion, much to Percy’s chagrin. 

_ I’m here! _ He wanted to say.  _ Annabeth! Grover! Please! _

But they all walked past him, unseeing and unknowing. 

Percy was pulled from his vision by a screaming pain in his right shoulder. He groaned as he adjusted himself, carefully shifting his weight so the sky would bear down more on his left side. He had learned to work against the sky slowly, or else it’d try to push down on him harder faster. 

It took him a while longer to zone out enough to see Camp again. He didn’t know what to expect, but it looked like there was a game of Capture the Flag going on. Percy saw Annabeth sprinting through the woods with the Hunter’s silver banner. 

He found himself cheering,  _ Way to go, Wise Girl. _

Despite leaving her and insisting he didn’t belong at Camp, seeing Annabeth made Percy’s chest ache. It felt like homesickness, but worse. 

His vision faded as his stomach growled. Percy bit his lip, his fangs drawing blood. Once he realized how hungry he was, it was all he could think about. His only hope was Luke, who had to know that Percy wouldn’t last forever without food. 

Percy slowly, carefully, shifted from one knee to another, seeing that his jeans were becoming frayed already. He continued to keep his head bowed as he held back the sky.

Again, it could have been minutes, hours, or days later when Percy was snapped back to his senses. His whole body was shaking now, arms numb from holding up the sky and legs tingling with pins and needles from not being able to move. Percy heard voices and multiple pairs of footsteps. 

He gritted his teeth as Luke appeared over the crest of the hill. He was followed by some of his monster lackeys, as well as a girl in chains. She stumbled closer, her hands restrained by golden chains. Luke was tugging her along like she was a dog. Even though her auburn hair was pulled loose from its braid and her silver dress was in tatters, Percy recognized her in an instant. Artemis. His blood ran cold. 

Luke captured a _ goddess? _

Their eyes met, and Artemis’ gaze hardened. 

“So you’ve resorted to torturing your captives with a burden meant for Titans?”

Luke snorted. “Percy’s just a temp. You’ll be taking his place soon enough.”

_ “No,”  _ a third voice cut in. Percy squinted, realizing there was someone else. Someone lingering in the foggy, swirling shadows. 

“Take a closer look at the boy. For a mortal, he’s been surviving my old curse incredibly well, don’t you agree?”   
  
Luke studied Percy, and he was consoled by the fact that Luke struggled to not avert his eyes.

“That’s because he’s not all  _ mortal _ ,” Luke turned to the figure in the darkness, “What do you think?” 

A pause. 

“Leave him.”

_ What? _

Percy tried to stand, only to be pinned back in place by the sky. “Luke, you-”

“He may still be the child of the Great Prophecy. Let us test him. See how long it takes to break him.”

The voice let out a laugh. Luke wasn’t looking at Percy when he said, “Fine then. You two, chain the goddess to that pillar over there.”

Artemis sneered. “If you dare lay your hands on me-”

Luke tugged on her chains, sharp and quick. The lackeys laughed as the goddess stumbled and nearly fell. Despite not being overly fond of her Hunters, Percy felt bad for her. The two monsters took the length of chain from Luke and dragged Artemis over to one of the more intact pillars in the chamber. They chained her in place, arms crossed over her chest like a mummy and hardly any room to move. 

“Don’t worry, my Lady,” the voice said, cruel and mocking, “if the boy here really does die, we’ll have use for you yet.”

Luke, the stranger, and the monsters left. Percy was still trembling, still trapped under the sky, and now, he couldn’t decide whether it was a good thing or not that he had company. 

For a while, all he could hear was Artemis as she tried to break free of her bindings. A few times, she even tried shedding her mortal form. But not even the light of a goddess’ true form could completely beat back the darkness of the cavern. Each attempt ended with her back in her human form, panting and still straining against her chains. 

Eventually, Percy couldn’t take the tense silence between them. He was kneeling with the mouth of the cavern toward him and Artemis to his side, just barely lingering in his peripheral. He swallowed, gritting his teeth as he tried to adjust himself under the sky. Percy craned his neck so he could see her.

“A-Artemis.”

His throat was dry and his voice sounded strained and shaky even to his own ears. The goddess stared at him, as if remembering he was still here. 

“Percy Jackson. When we last met on Olympus, I had a feeling our paths would cross again. But _ this,” _ her eyes darted around the room, “is far from what I imagined.”

Despite himself, Percy laughed. It sounded more like a cry than anything else. He spoke between shallow breaths. “What? You mean you don’t...spend your weekends...getting kidnapped by your enemies?”

She studied him. “You know, you are quite unusual. Even for a boy.”

“Thanks _ …  _ I get that a lot.” 

“No, you miss understand me.” Artemis paused, studying him further, “Most mortals would be close to death from the stress of the sky by now. But  _ you _ …”

She didn’t finish her sentence. Percy didn’t want her to. Besides, it wasn’t like he was doing _ great.  _

“So…” he said, sweat getting in his eyes again. “You got any plans on how to escape?”   
  
He was met with silence. He figured it must be embarrassing for a goddess to admit she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Literally.

Then Percy heard footsteps, and realized why Artemis had quieted. Luke was back. The older boy stood a few yards away, making the hair on the back of Percy’s neck stand on end. He figured Luke was here to torture him for information, or maybe humiliate Artemis. 

Instead, Luke knelt in front of Percy with a bottle of water in his hand. Percy stared at it, swallowing dryly. 

Luke said, “Here, drink.” 

“Be wary of him, boy.” Artemis warned. 

Percy kept his mouth shut. He didn’t know if that water was laced with something. Luke muttered something under his breath as he took a gulp of water. 

“There, happy? It’s clean, Percy. And I know you must want it.”

Percy narrowed his eyes, still suspicious of the guy who left him trapped under the sky.

Luke frowned. “Fine, then.”   


Percy blinked in surprise as he was splashed in the face with cold water. Immediately, some strength came back to him. Despite the water being cold, he got a little more feeling back in his arms and legs. 

Percy exhaled. His throat was still so _ dry.  _

“Come on, Percy. Don’t make me dump the rest on you.”

Despite the goddess shouting at him to refuse, Percy was only (part) human. He tilted his head back as much as he could and drank the entire bottle in a few gulps. He could have cried from how good just plain water tasted. 

“I don’t suppose...you’ll let me go for a bathroom break later, will you?” Percy asked. “I’d hate to have an accident.”

Luke almost smiled. He set the empty bottle aside and reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled out some ambrosia squares wrapped in a white cloth napkin. Percy was immediately suspicious. Again.

“Why are you doing this?” And did Luke really expect Percy to be hand fed like a dog?

“You’ll die if you don’t get some food in you.”   
  
“Isn’t th-that what you want?”

Luke didn’t answer. He gave Percy an indecipherable stare. 

“Eat, Percy. I can’t guarantee your next meal.”

Percy’s gaze flickered toward Artemis, who looked just as much of a prisoner as he did. Her dress was stained with both dirt and ichor, her bare feet muddy and scratched up. 

He said, “I’ll eat... but only if you give her some too.”   


“No,” Luke said immediately. 

“And I’d never eat from the hand of a man as foul as you!” Artemis shouted. 

Gods and their fucking pride. The water had done wonders for Percy, but he knew he had to eat if he wanted to survive. Percy bit the bullet and accepted the ambrosia, which tasted like a terribly delicious blend of raw meat and his mom’s cookies. 

When it came down to the last square, however, Percy clenched his jaw and turned his head to the side. Frustrated, Luke stood and turned away from Percy. 

“I won’t be giving any to  _ you, _ in case you're wondering.”

Artemis shouted a swear in ancient Greek. Luke stomped away without another word. Then Percy was alone again. Alone with himself, alone with a goddess, alone with the weight of the heavens on his shoulders. 

If he didn’t think too hard, it was almost bearable.

* * *

_ Your underling has impressed me, General.  _ Their lord said.  _ When you informed me of a possible child of the eldest gods, I did not think you would be bringing me Perseus Jackson.  _

Luke scowled, silent as he stood with his hands held behind his back. Next to him, Atlas beamed. 

“It is my greatest honor to please you, my lord.”

_ Suck up.  _ He thought.

The room dropped a few degrees, the golden sarcophagus holding their Master sucking in the warmth and light. 

_ And as for you, Luke.  _

He inhaled sharply. His body still trembled slightly from the stress of holding up the sky for a single day. He had no idea how Percy was doing it for more than a day and night now.

“Yes, my lord?”

_ The General has so kindly brought me a wonderful gift. And now, I want you to look after the demigod. To make certain he does not expire too quickly _ . 

Luke’s jaw clenched. He could tell Atlas was amused by the situation. 

“Yes, my lord. I’ll have him imprisoned immediately and-”

_ No. _

Both Luke and Atlas seemed surprised. 

“Master?” He asked, uncertainty bleeding into his voice. 

A cold, callous laugh filled the room. 

_ I’ve suspected young Perseus is not quite what he seems for some time now. The fact that he has not yet died from his burden is further proof. Although, he did receive help. Did he not? _

Atlas sneered at Luke. “Sentimental for the little boy soldier you once trained?”   
  
_ “Never,” _ he hissed back.

The air around them stirred and they both quieted under the pressure of their master’s annoyance. Or amusement. It was no secret Luke and the General were pitted against each other just for their lord’s pleasure. 

_ There is something in the boy that is neither god nor mortal. In order for Perseus to survive holding up the sky, that unknown part of his being must constantly chip away at his human side.  _

A pause. 

_ Luke, I am personally trusting you to oversee the boy’s… metamorphosis. Keep him alive. Try to see if he can yet be swayed to our side. And in case he does expire,  _

The air in the room shifted, and Luke knew their lord had turned his attention to Atlas. 

_ General, I want you to head east as originally planned. Seek out the daughter of Zeus and capture her. Destroy anyone in your way.  _

Atlas smiled. “Yes, my lord.”

* * *

The hair hanging in Percy’s eyes was starting to get bits of white in it. At first, he thought it was his power doing it to himself. Then Artemis told him it was the stress of holding up the sky, of bearing a Titan’s curse. It was not something a mortal was ever meant to suffer. 

By then, Percy had held up the sky for at least several days and nights. Or, at least he thought so. It was always darker than it should be, the clouds always obscuring the sun, and his only reference was Artemis, who could tell when it was night via her powers. 

No rest. No sleep. Barely any food or water. He hadn’t needed to -ahem- use the bathroom either. The goddess didn’t know how he wasn’t dead yet, which didn’t bode well with Percy.

At that point, it was almost easier for Percy to slip into that hazy almost-sleep than to stay actively conscious. It was preferable to feeling the constant fiery pain in his shoulders and back as well. His mind fired off image after image like a firework display, nothing intelligible to his tired brain. 

His vision pitched into darkness for a second before clarifying. Percy could see a shoreline, could somehow tell it was off the coast of Camp Half-Blood. The image clarified further. His pack, thank the gods, were all fine. But they were howling for him. They pawed at the magic border, whimpering and growling and dodging attacks from campers and Hunters alike.

Percy’s vision shifted, slipping like sand through his fingers before focusing again. This time, he was underwater. A herd of hippocampi were circling some strange creature that was swimming along the coast of the camp. The thing had the front end of a cow, with the big soft eyes of a calf, but had the back end of an eel. It seemed to be searching for something. 

He saw his mom in her apartment, making his stomach twist with homesickness and regret. She was curled up on his bed and the room was dark. Her shoulders trembled as she buried her face in a pillow. There was a crossbow sitting on Percy’s desk. 

_ Mom, I’m here…  _

Percy groaned as his head went fuzzy, images flashing through his mind before he could make them out. When he finally could make out his surroundings, he saw a van speeding down a highway. He looked closer and saw Thalia and Grover. He saw the girl from Westover and another he didn’t recognize. This new girl had dark skin and a silver circlet woven in her hair. She was driving at least thirty miles per hour faster than any other car on the highway, eyes narrowed as if she was determined to ram some invisible force in front of her. 

But most importantly, Percy saw Annabeth. 

She had her magic cap clutched in her hands as she stared out the window. Percy felt like he was sitting right behind her. He reached out, wanting to tap her shoulder. To ask why she seemed so upset. (It couldn’t be because of him. He had hurt her. Ran from her. She shouldn’t be upset about him.)

_ “Percy!”  _

He startled, the weight of the sky renewed on his shoulders. Percy shouted as he straightened his back and braced both knees against the ground. He groaned as he steadied himself, efforts redoubling to keep the crushing darkness at bay. 

“Percy, you need to remain awake,” Artemis said. He couldn't see her, but he could hear the alarm in her voice. 

“T-trying…” he swallowed, mouth dry again. “Talk to me… please.”

He just needed something to listen to. Something that wasn’t the chamber groaning or his own stomach growling. So he listened to the goddess as she told him stories of her hunts. Felling drakons with single arrows and chasing down boars the size of tanks. She told him stories of Hunters who fought valiantly and died at the end of their journeys. She told him about Orion, the only man she ever let hunt with her. 

“Must’ve been some guy,” Percy said, lightheaded.

“He was an extraordinary hunter,” Artemis agreed, “but he perished an unfortunate death.”

Something about a snake, right? Or maybe a scorpion. Percy could vaguely recall his mom reading him the story of Orion for bed. It seemed so long ago now. Percy was shaken from his thoughts by the familiar strain of golden chains as Artemis struggled against her bonds again. The metallic grinding echoed through the chamber. After a moment, the sound stilled. 

“Do not lose hope, Percy. The fact that you are still alive, and I have not yet been cut to pieces, means we are important pawns. There must be people searching for us. My Hunters, or even my brother.”

Percy recalled his latest vision. 

“I think… I think there’s a quest for you.”

The two girls that weren’t Annabeth and Thalia had to be Hunters. They had that sort of silver glow that Artemis had. And he figured they’d only team up with campers if there was something hugely wrong in the universe. Such as a missing goddess. 

“In my visions… I saw a van. With-”  _ my friends _ “-some campers and two other girls.”

Artemis spoke with urgency, like a captain calling orders. “Describe them.”

Percy blinked away the black spots clouding his vision. He swallowed, speaking in short bursts as he breathed.

“Grover, a satyr. Thalia, Zeus’ daughter. Annabeth, a-a camper. And two girls. One from the school and one with a silver crown in her hair.”

“My most recent recruit and my lieutenant,” Artemis replied, “They must be following my trail here.”

Percy’s head bobbed, half-nodding and half almost falling asleep again. 

She asked, “Do you know how far they are?”   
  
“No idea.” 

Artemis took in a long breath. “I see. Then I pray we are rescued soon.”   
  
Despite the pain and weight bearing down on him, the corner of Percy’s mouth twitched. 

“Do gods actually pray?”   


Artemis went quiet. He would have liked to see her reaction. 

They both froze as they heard footsteps. Multiple times a day, someone came to check on them. Sometimes it was monsters gloating that the great Percy Jackson and the mighty goddess Artemis were their prisoners. Sometimes they snapped at him, knowing he wouldn’t be able to fight back. (A part of Percy didn’t know why these monsters didn’t like him when hellhounds did. Even in enemy territory, sometimes a hellhound would melt from the shadows to sniff at him with interest.)

So Percy wasn’t sure if he was relieved when it turned out to be Luke. He knelt in front of Percy, and he quietly accepted the water and food offered. But even as he ate his ambrosia, the food of the gods, Percy felt hollow. Hungry. His bones and stomach ached. He couldn’t remember what it felt like to not hold the world. 

“I can make it stop, you know,” Luke said. 

Percy didn’t respond. He could minutely hear Artemis shifting in her bindings. 

“I can bring you enough food to return all your strength. I can make the goddess take your place, if you-”

“Luke.”

His captor went quiet. Artemis was still. The air inside the cave felt cold and stiff, as if it was holding its breath. Percy swallowed, head clearer than before. 

“Kill me.”

_“No,”_ Artemis shouted, “you cannot! Perseus-”

“Quiet!” Luke shouted. He snapped his fingers, making the Mist flow in a darkened swirl around them, separating them from the goddess and muffling her shouts. It looked like Percy wasn’t the only one who learned to manipulate the Mist. 

It was strange, Percy knew Artemis was still there, but it felt like he was alone with Luke. 

“Kill me.”

He just needed to get out of there. He needed to escape. If he could get out,  _ come back,  _ he might be able to free Artemis as well. More importantly, Percy was willing to die just to escape the pressure of the sky.

“I can’t do that, Percy.” 

He raised his head as much as he could, leveling his haunting eyes at Luke. The older boy grimaced, but kept his gaze steady. Maybe he’s somehow seen worse things than Percy’s face. 

He asked softly, “Why not?”

Luke’s jaw clenched and unclenched. 

“You’re valuable to us, Percy. You’re capable of amazing things. In the right hands-”

_ “Your  _ hands.” Percy groaned as he dropped his gaze, the sky urging him to submit, “I won’t… be your pawn. I won’t fight them.”

“Percy, you don’t understand the gravity of your situation.”   
  
He barked out a laugh. _ “Really?  _ Either I die here...or I die fighting for Kronos.”   
  
The air in the chamber grew colder.

_ “Or,  _ or I die fighting my friends from camp!”

“Percy-”

His fought to straighten his back, to look Luke in the eye as much as he could. “Didn’t you send a hellhound...and a scorpion after me when I was twelve? Didn’t you try to...kill me when I was thirteen? Why stop now?”   
  
Percy gritted his teeth and peeled his lips back, baring his fangs. 

Luke stood, expression dark and unreadable. 

“It’s not the camp I’m trying to fight, Percy. They just keep getting in my way.” 

He turned and began leaving, the Mist dissipating in his wake. Percy lowered his head and slumped over, trying to roll his burning shoulders. 

* * *

The prophecy given to them by the Oracle repeated in Annabeth’s head as they sped down yet another highway. 

_ Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,  _

_ One shall be lost in the land without rain,  _

_ The bane of Olympus shows the trial,  _

_ Campers and Hunters combined prevail, _

_ The Titan’s curse must one withstand, _

_ And one shall perish by a parent’s hand. _

It haunted her since the Oracle walked out of the attic and found them to deliver its message. It haunted her through the night. It was haunting her now, even as she, Thalia, Grover, and two Hunters embarked on a quest to save Artemis. 

And Percy. 

The Hunters couldn’t care less about him, but he had risked his life to save her- all of them- from the manticore. He was why Annabeth refused to accept Artemis’ offer. She was tired of seeing the people around her die or leave, turn dark or hardened. But she couldn’t accept knowing Percy could still be alive somewhere, hurting and in need of rescue. 

As their van, loaned from camp, pulled into Washington DC after hours of driving, Annabeth considered what was potentially the most dangerous line in the prophecy. The bane of Olympus. 

Yes, two of the five of them may die. One was certain to meet a terrible end. But Annabeth had no idea what the bane of Olympus could possibly be. Chiron had suggested Typhon, which Annabeth also dismissed. The book she brought for the trip, written by a demigod in the early nineteen hundreds, was a catalogue of nearly every obscure monster and enemy to Olympus ever recorded. But instead of helping, the letters just floated off the page. Even worse, her mind sometimes wandered, imaging the terrible scenarios Percy could be in. Tortured, starved, beaten, forced to be a gladiator for Luke’s sick cruise ship. 

By the time they stopped, Annabeth was itching to get out of the car. As soon as her feet were on the pavement, her eyes landed on the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian. 

“Let’s go there.”   
  
“Why?” Thalia asked. 

Annabeth’s eyes darted around. She felt uneasy. “Better inside than out in the open.”

With no better ideas, the group embarked. The museum was thankfully mostly devoid of tourists, with only a handful of families and what looked like a few groups of schoolchildren. Annabeth’s eyes combed the museum, taking it all in for a moment. Percy wasn’t very much of a science buff, but she thought even he would think the museum was cool. 

“So what now?” Thalia asked. 

Grover fished around in his pocket and pulled out a handful of acorns. “I can try using a tracking spell once we decide what our next move is.”   
  
“Tracking?” Zoë asked, eyes burning, “You can trace thy lady Artemis?”

Annabeth ignored how Thalia’s nose wrinkled at Zoë’s Old English. 

“Well, no. Not exactly,” Grover said, “but I can use a spell to pinpoint our location in relation to any large natural formations, like lakes or mountains. And if Artemis was after some kind of creature, I might be able to see which direction it’s in too.”

Zoë looked only mildly disappointed. Still, it was the best lead they had. 

“Very well, satyr. Let us not waste time then.”

Unfortunately, time was the one thing fate seldom gave in abundance on quests. Before they could exit the museum, Thalia grabbed Annabeth and Grover by the back of their jackets and hauled them to the side. The Hunters followed, confused. 

“Thalia? What are you doing?” Annabeth asked, hoping they weren’t drawing attention to themselves. 

“We can’t go outside. I saw them for a second, but there’s some guys heading this way.”

Annabeth raised a brow. “And?”

Thalia looked pale, but her bright blue eyes were narrowed and alert. “They weren’t human. Too tall, too pale _.”_

Zoë’s eyes narrowed. “Then we must ready ourselves for a fight.”

That was what Annabeth was prepared to do before they heard the roar of a lion. Somehow, getting past doors and security to glower at them from above, was the Nemean Lion. 

“Scatter!” Annabeth shouted. 

The Lion pounced. It was enormous and worse, it was invulnerable to all forms of attack. As Annabeth distracted the Lion while the others climbed to higher ground, she caught a glimpse of the guys approaching the museum. She had no idea how Thalia picked them out so easily, but their skin glistened gray in the sunlight. She figured they had only minutes until the Lion’s cavalry showed up.

She grunted as she dodged screaming kids and flying arrows. She saw Thalia jumping from a viewing platform and onto the wing of a suspended plane. Her spear extended in her hand, sparking with blue electricity. 

The air was knocked out of Annabeth’s lungs as the Lion swatted her aside. She went rolling across the floor until her back hit a wall. She could tell the back of her jacket was torn, but she was still in one piece. 

“Hey, uh, Lion!” Grover shouted. He began playing a fervent tune on his panpipes that had the Nemean Lion tossing its head back and forth. A confusion spell. And by the looks of it, it was affecting the mortals too. Some were running in circles, some clutching their hands over their ears. They were all in danger unless someone thought fast. 

Which, thankfully, was Annabeth’s forte. She picked herself up and realized she was right next to the entrance to the gift shop. A part of her wondered what Percy would do.

Something stupid. So Annabeth ran inside the giftshop. If the Nemean Lion’s pelt was impenetrable, then they needed to get clever. None of them were strong enough to strangle it, so they had to find a way to either suffocate it or keep its mouth open wide enough for one of the Hunters to land a hit. 

Annabeth’s eyes landed on the racks of dried astronaut food ahead of her. It was an idea dumb enough for Percy, but one just crazy enough to work. She grabbed an armful of food packages and sprinted back to the main museum area. 

Turned out, not even the Nemean Lion liked freeze dried pasta. All it took was a few packages chucked in its mouth and the Lion started gagging, mouth open wide. Zoë and Bianca made quick work of it, the Lion leaving behind its invulnerable pelt. 

_ Thank you, Percy. _ Annabeth quietly thought. 

“They’re here!” Bianca shouted. They regrouped on the ground floor as the new guys showed up. They were more like skeletons with translucent, gray skin than humans. Annabeth’s eyes widened as she recognized them. They were soldiers sewn from dragon teeth, meaning they’d be next to unstoppable.

She snagged the Nemean Lion’s pelt off the floor as the five of them made a break for it. Glancing back, she didn’t like how one of them was sniffing at a shred of her jacket she left behind. It passed the fragment to its companions, and Annabeth knew they had the scent for her now. 

Leaving the camp’s van behind, they five of them took the DC subway out of the city, switching course twice before ending up at an old trainyard. The moment they decided they were safe enough to rest, Annabeth nearly collapsed. She sat down on a stack of wood planks just tall enough to be at sitting-height, the others collapsing around her.

Annabeth asked, breath appearing in puffs in front of her, “Grover, can you do your tracking spell now?”

He nodded, fumbling with his coat as he pulled out his acorns. After a quick song, the acorns began moving on their own. Five sat huddled together while a sixth skittered more than a yard away. 

“Okay…” Grover said, “That cluster is us. The tracking spell orients itself according to wherever north is. So…”

He glanced toward the sky, frowning in the dying light.    
  
“That is north,” Zoë said, pointing in a direction with a shocking sense of confidence. 

“Okay, so then the acorn all the way over there is in the far west,” Grover said. “That’s where we have to go.”

Not much of a lead, but better than nothing. Annabeth slumped against Thalia’s side. After a moment, she felt a hand tugging on her sleeve. 

“The pelt.”

“Huh?”   
  
Annabeth looked down at the pelt she’d been lugging around all this time. She hadn’t even noticed when it turned into a fur coat. 

“It’ll make a good replacement for this one,” Thalia said, pinching a torn ribbon of Annabeth’s old jacket. 

Annabeth looked to Zoë and Bianca. Technically, it was their kill but the older Hunter only shook her head. 

“It was your fast thinking that saved us. The pelt is yours.”

“It wasn’t entirely my idea,” Annabeth quietly said, “I thought… I thought it was what Percy would do.”

The silence hung between the five of them. Annabeth shivered as a gust of wind blew by. She had no choice but to shed her old jacket. And she ended up being grateful for that, as the pelt was twice as warm as a tattered jacket. Still, she hesitated to just abandon it. She didn’t know if those warriors could track her by smell, or if leaving her jacket behind would put them in jeopardy. She scanned the train yard and saw a homeless man about a hundred feet away standing at a fire in a garbage can. 

“Come on,” she said. 

She got up, the others following. She approached the homeless man. He gave them a smile. 

“You kids cold? Come on, there’s plenty of room for all of ya.”

He was certainly weird. Almost a stereotype of a hobo with his missing teeth, greasy yellow-gray hair, and patchwork clothes. Annabeth showed her thanks by tossing her jacket onto the fire, letting the flames eat it away. As she warmed her hands by the fire, she thought about the long journey ahead of them. 

There was only one place they  _ could _ go. San Francisco, the home base of the Titans. That was about the biggest, most dangerous place in the west. 

And it could be where Percy was. Annabeth felt a twinge of guilt at their last real encounter. Percy had been so freaked out back at camp, she’d never seen him so scared before. That and with how the hellhounds followed him, obeying his orders, and how he seemed like a wild animal himself, it was all so confusing. She especially had no idea what to make of Percy biting into the manticore’s flesh in Maine.

But she just had to get to him. If she could, she could talk to him. Get him to come home. Return to camp and his mom. And apologize to him, for not being as good of a friend as she could have been. 

“So… you kids need a ride out of here?” the hobo asked. He pointed to a train, one that wasn’t as derelict as the others and certainly not one that was there before. Annabeth wasn’t about to rule out godly intervention, but she also wasn’t going to complain.

* * *

Minutes or hours or days later, Percy was swallowed by his pain enough to fall into it. He felt like he was dreaming again, the world slowly piecing itself together around him. 

It was dark. He was in a car, but it wasn’t moving. It looked like one of those trucks that hauled cars, but bigger. And it was moving way too fast for a truck. A train? 

Grover was sleeping in the backseats while Percy sat shotgun. 

“Where are we?” Percy asked, mostly to himself. 

His voice was a soft breath in the wind, but the sound rippled in the air, distorting itself until it became an echoing hiss. Grover startled. He saw Percy and jumped, scrambling to sit upright and lean forward. 

“Percy! You’re alright!”   
  
A wave of guilt washed over Percy. He remembered the last time he saw Grover, back at Westover. How Percy got mad at him and abandoned his best friend because he was scared of Annabeth finding him. Percy didn’t have it in himself to return Grover’s smile. 

“Where are we?” He asked again.    
  
“On a train heading west! It’s uh, it’s a long story but we’re on our way! We’re going to find Artemis and you, don’t worry.”

Grover’s smile faded a little. He seemed to have an easier time looking Percy in the eye in their dreams. “I’m honestly so relieved to finally hear from you Percy, you have no idea.”

“What do you mean?”   
  
Percy lied to them. He was closer to the monsters they fought than a demigod now. He was a bad friend.

Grover shifted, bouncing one of his goat legs as his smile faded even more. 

“It’s our empathy link, dude. Something’s been degrading it, making it hard for me to find you.”

Percy’s blood ran cold. He twisted in his seat, grabbing Grover by the shoulders. 

“You have to dissolve our link.”

Grover’s eyes went wide. “What? No way! Not after I’ve finally got a message through to you!”   
  
Desperation began welling in Percy’s chest, filling his lungs and drowning him. He recalled when his friend first explained the empathy link. If Grover died, Percy might die too. And he was willing to bet the inverse was possible as well.

“Grover, _ please,”  _ Percy begged, “you have to get rid of it! Before it’s too late.”   


“Why? Percy, what’s going on?”

The words came tumbling out of him before he could think otherwise. 

“I think I’m dying, Grover.”

His friend went still. The car was silent for a moment. 

“You- you aren't  _ dying _ Percy. You can’t be.”   


Percy let go of Grover and clawed his hands through his hair. Even in the dim light, he could see how pale his hair was. 

“Look at me! The stress of holding up the sky is going to kill me, Grover! Get rid of the link before it hurts you too.”

Grover squinted in the darkness. 

“But you sound-” he stopped, sucking in a breath, _ “-what do you mean you’re holding up the sky? _ Have you been doing that this whole time? Percy, you shouldn’t be able to survive something like that!”   
  
The desperation taking hold of him sunk its claws in deeper. Percy’s eyes burned and he was scared he was going to start crying. 

“That’s what I’m saying!  _ Please, _ just break the empathy link.”

But Grover only shook his head. “No. No way! Last summer, we promised each other to keep it in case the other was in trouble. I won’t break it! No matter what!”

A desperate sound escaped Percy’s throat. Tears began to blur his vision. Then an idea flashed through his mind. A cruel one. Percy closed his eyes and tried to feel the dream around him. Grover was somehow able to manipulate the link, so why couldn’t he? 

He exhaled, feeling the chain woven from trust, care, faith, hope,  _ life _ that tethered him to Grover. Even with his eyes closed he could feel how the world around him rippled like a stone tossed in a pond. 

“P-percy? What are you doing?”

He didn’t answer. Percy grabbed hold of that chain like he would with water and began tugging at it. He was answered with an opposing force trying to keep the link together. 

“Percy, don’t! I can use the link to find you.”   
  
He squeezed his eyes tighter. “I can’t let you die, Grover. I-”

He sucked in a breath. He wanted to say, to scream,  _ I’m so sorry. _

Instead, Percy opened his eyes and exhaled. Grover recoiled as if tossed against the backseats. The world, the vision or dream or whatever it was around them, began to blow away like fine mist in the wind. 

_ “Percy!” _ Grover shouted. He sounded so far away now. 

The chain between them was now a fraying rope. 

Percy reached out with his senses, taking in a breath and exhaling again. The rope became the thinnest of threads. 

_ “...cy!”  _ Grover was nothing more than the slightest hint of an echo on the wind. The world was more empty darkness than solid surroundings now. Grover’s form was too blurry and translucent to make out his face. 

Before he could change his mind, Percy snapped the thread. 

When he came to, he was back under the sky. The cavern was still cold and dark, the gravel digging into his knees. But the entire world felt different. Lonelier. More empty. Percy had done it. 

But instead of rejoicing, he bowed his head and began to cry. 

* * *

“Percy still refuses to yield, my lord. He hasn’t begged for mercy or attempted to bargain yet.”   


_ But he did ask for death? _ The cold echo of his master’s voice asked. 

Luke shook his head. “Yes, my lord. He’s rash, always has been. I’m afraid he might try to do something drastic out of desperation.”   
  
_ Hm. He is stubborn, isn’t he? Fret not, Luke. You must seek to break the boy by different means.  _

“How? He rejects all my offers to let the goddess take his place.”

_ Then you must tempt him with something else. _

The Titan paused, as if in thought. 

_ Even in my limited form, I can feel it. Something stirring in the boy. A primalness that allures wild creatures. A hunger that has yet to be sated. Let him embrace this budding force within himself, Luke. Give him something he cannot refuse.  _

Luke listened carefully to the proposition his master made. 

* * *

His head felt like it was splitting open. His blood roared in his ears. 

_ “Percy…” _

He whined under his breath, the pulsing behind his eyes worsening. 

_ “Percy…” _

He tried to shake his head. He had to be hallucinating. There was no good way to tell the time, but he knew he had been holding up the sky for days. His lost empathy link still left a cold ache in his body. Percy panted through his open mouth, breath brushing against his teeth. The stiffening ache in his body was turning into a paralyzing, everpresent agony. He bowed his body forward, planting one arm against the gravel, kneeling and keeping the sky up with only one arm and his back. 

From somewhere far away, Artemis was frantically speaking to him. “Percy! Stay awake! Do not-”

But his eyelids were getting heavy again. Percy couldn’t remember the last time Luke came around with food or water. The fog began curling around his legs, sending a chill up his spine. He felt like he was melting and freezing at once.

_ “Perseus.” _

The next thing he knew, Percy was back in that pseudo-sleep state. Except this time, there were no visions. Only blackness. He tried to speak out against the dark, only to realize he had no voice. He tried to look down at himself, only to realize he had no body. 

And as soon as he realized that he was not, that there was no thing known as  _ Percy Jackson _ in this realm, the universe exploded before his eyes. Nebulas and stars and planets assembled in seconds, only to fade, burst, and crumble in just as little time. 

Percy felt the gut-wrenching sensation of falling through the air, even though he remained in one place. 

He had no mouth but Percy pleaded,  _ Please, make it stop…  _

He was having a hard time thinking, but he knew what dream this was. This was the nightmare that used to force him to stay up for days on end. The nightmare where he was going to be broken down like the galaxies around him and scattered, his consciousness no longer his own. 

_ Percy.  _ A voice spoke. A voice that carried the roar of the universe, the searing heat of the stars and the unimaginable cold of empty space. A voice that reverated in Percy’s not-being and a voice that he knew could easily swallow him whole. 

_ Oh, Perseus.  _ The voice said. And he didn’t know that the universe could sound sad, but it did.  _ What have you gotten yourself into? _

_ Who are you? _

Even to his own nonexistent ears, Percy’s voice was the wispiest, faintest, most pathetic sound ever created compared to the voice that  _ was _ the universe. 

_ I am you. And I am also me. I am everything and nothing. _

Percy paused, struggling to take in everything the voice was saying. 

_ You- you’re the universe?  _

_ The primordial of primordials. You must know me by now. _

Percy knew of only one thing that existed before the primordials. If names had power, he didn’t dare say it aloud. He only asked,  _ Why me? _

Why Percy? Why him to be cursed and distorted? What did he do to be cursed with eternal hunger? 

He felt like screaming. He felt like crying.

The universe rippled, a hiss in his ears. Was it shushing him? 

_ Listen carefully, Percy. You are dying, child. Slowly and painfully. _

Memories flashed through his mind. A creature that was half bull and half man. A scorpion. Other beasts, too. Would Percy come back if he died this time? 

What stakes were there in his death? 

_ You must remember that death is inconsequential for beings like you and me. But I see that you are unhappy, child. I see that you do not know whether to cling to this life or not.  _

Percy didn’t respond. 

_ I offer you a choice, Percy. Let go of your petty life and find peace here. _

Percy hesitated to say anything. He surveyed the expanse of space before him, and thought that it was as beautiful as it was terrifying. 

But then he also remembered his mom, and how she was crying. He remembered his friends. He remembered how he’d be leaving Artemis to hold up the sky if he failed. 

Percy asked,  _ What if I don’t want to die? _

_ Then I ask you to embrace me, my child. Embrace what you were meant to be and I will give you the strength you need.  _

Percy stirred with confusion and discontent. 

The universe chuckled, sensing his alarm. 

_You were once so afraid of me, Percy. But am I truly so terrible? Your time is running short and you have a choice to make now._ _Stay with me, or go._ _  
__  
_ Percy was confused. He had a hundred more questions to ask but no idea how to voice any of them. He tried to concentrate, to pull himself together. He was a son of the sea and holding up the sky was agony not just physically, but mentally. Going back to being restrained felt like a terrible idea. And would he ever be able to live a normal life, even by demigod standards?

But Percy also couldn’t turn his back on the people he hurt. Especially not his own mother.

_ Please help me, _ he said instead. 

All at once, the stardust and heat swirling in an infinite expanse around him began to cluster around him. Percy watched as the bits of raw universe created a body with a star for a heart and veins made of streaking comets. 

He heard the voice of a young girl. “Percy! Stay awake! Do not-”

He blinked. 

“-give up!”

The world as it was- as it should be- came back all at once. The dark, churning fog, the goddess chained next to him, and the imprisoning weight of the sky threatening to crush the life out of him. Percy gritted his teeth, sucking in a breath as he attempted to steady himself. 

And it came easier to him than ever before. Like something filled the gap his empathy link left behind, only it also wove itself into every fiber of his being. Breathing felt like breathing always did, but Percy had never felt more comfortable in his own skin. He felt like he wasn’t just the Percy everyone knew but he also wasn’t just the Percy  _ he _ knew. He felt whole. But he also felt different. 

The world felt too sharp. The gravel against his torn jeans, the cold draft, the hammering of his heart. The hum of power exuding from Artemis he never saw before, the  _ smell _ of her power as a mix of wilderness, wolf howls, falcon cries, young girls laughing. The way her aura dimmed and strengthened with her heartbeat and how small it seemed when compared to the raw power a goddess should have. She was suffering. She was hungry and tired just like he was, and maybe it was this place that was poisoning her. 

Percy also felt the pulse of the sky he didn’t feel before, the heartbeat of the heavens as it yearned to touch the ground. Percy was feeling things he shouldn’t be able to. He sucked in a breath and straightened his back, despite the crushing countless tons bearing down on him. He rolled his shoulders and neck, relief seeping into his bones. It wasn’t exactly as if the sky was any easier to hold, it just felt like he’d gotten some rest for the first time in years. 

“Percy?” A voice quietly asked.

He turned his head, realizing Artemis was watching him. Her stare was almost indecipherable, but Percy could somehow pick out all the emotions stirring in her eyes. Curiosity, caution, confusion, relief, worry, the remnants of panic-

-and fear. 

“I’m alright,” he said.

“You almost fainted again.”   
  
“I know, Percy breathed, “I know.”

When Artemis didn’t respond for a moment, Percy assumed she was done talking. He turned his gaze away from her and felt the thrum of the sky above him. 

“You know, I was actually quite close to granting you my blessing,” Artemis said, voice even softer than before.

“Really?”   


“Yes”, Artemis’ voice became tinged with sadness, “In all my years, only one man has ever received my good will and strength.”

“Orion?”

“Yes.”

Percy pondered that answer. “So… was I pretty close to death, then?”   
  
“You were. I felt it, your life hanging by a thread. But now you seem well. Stronger than before, more rested.”

Percy pondered that response as well. He could still feel his muscles spasming and knees aching from kneeling, but it wasn’t as bad as it was before.

“You’ve broken some barrier within you, Percy. Your body has forced itself to survive.”

If only she knew. The sound of footsteps made them both pause. Luke appeared as he often did, hands in his jacket pockets. He stopped a few yards away from Percy and froze.

Percy was at an angle where the edge of the sky above him and the swirling shadows prevented him from seeing Luke’s face. But even without straining to see, he could tell that Luke was afraid. 

“You seem different.”

But he did a good job of hiding it.

Percy remained quiet. He raised his head a fraction of an inch, seeing a white grocery bag in Luke’s hand. He inhaled through his nose, being hit in the face by the unmistakable scent of raw flesh. His mouth watered as he went through the motions of drinking the water Luke brought, but turned his head when offered the ambrosia. 

“Give it to her.”   
  
Luke’s gaze hardened. “No.”

“Give some to her, Luke.”   
  
Percy saw how Luke flinched at the sound of his name. The whole cavern shuttered softly. 

“Eat. I won’t tell you again.”   
  
Percy scowled and raised his gaze to meet Luke’s. 

He saw a mother in an empty home with a kitchen table full of sandwiches. He saw a little girl in an alley with scraped knees and a wild look in her gray eyes. He saw Thalia die on a hill as he looked over his shoulder. He saw himself through Luke’s eyes, dirty and disheveled with pale skin and hair more white than black. With fangs and with veins that pulsed around his eyes in hues of dark green and blue. With eyes that looked like entire galaxies being swallowed by black holes, promising the destruction of mind, body, and soul alike. 

A scream caught in Percy’s throat as he shut his eyes. 

He heard something hit the ground. He opened his eyes again, reeling from what he saw as the cave came back into focus. Luke was on the ground a few feet away, clutching his chest and panting hard. He wasn’t looking at Percy. His other hand was clutching his face. 

Percy’s eyes widened when he saw the red seeping between Luke’s fingers. 

“What-?” Luke asked. He pulled his hand away. 

It looked like his scar had reopened, dripping blood. His gaze was fixed on his bloodied hand, but Percy could see his face now. He could see how the eye above his scar was paler and more clouded than the other.

Percy had decayed Luke with a  _ look.  _

He dropped his gaze as he heard Luke scramble to his feet and leave. The metallic scent of his blood, tinged with fear and heartache, remained. As did his plastic bag, laying abandoned and faded with the meat within spoiled and rotten. 

“Percy,” he heard Artemis say, his name a breathless whisper on her lips. “How did you do that?”   
  
He didn’t answer.

* * *

_ Percy. _

More images flashed through his mind. An infinite junkyard at night, with five figures climbing hills made of broken weapons, chariots, cars, appliances, and anything else that could be made by godly hands. 

_ Percy. _

A bronze giant come to life. Telephone poles and wires snapping, sparking against the darkness, and five tiny half-bloods trying to fight back. 

_ Percy, do you feel your new strength? _

He watched as the giant stepped on a girl, and his heart leapt into his throat as he thought it was Annabeth. But no- she was pulling Grover out from under some scrap metal. Then who was crushed by the giant?

_ Percy, does the world not feel clearer now? Easier for you to feel against your skin? _

He watched as the giant began to crumble, tons upon tons of bronze falling to the ground with a deafening metallic grind. 

_ Oh, can you feel it? Another soul lost? _ _  
_   
Percy could. He felt the shift in the landscape, not the presence of a death but the absence of a life. As the sun began to rise, he realized it was the girl from Westover, Artemis’ most recent Huntress. Percy felt a twinge of sadness. She was so young.

_ There, there, my child. At least it was not one of the children you are fond of. _

The world around him flickered and dimmed. Percy was being pulled from his dream again. But before he was gone, he asked the voice, “Why do you call me your child?”   


The voice laughed. _ You still refuse to understand? Come now, Percy. You are more clever than that… _

Percy’s eyes snapped open. He was where he always was. He groaned under the weight of the sky and didn’t have it in himself to face Artemis, even though he could tell she was watching him. Waiting for news about the quest for her. 

“One of your Hunters has died.”

The silence stretched between them. After a moment, Percy realized he could hear quiet sniffling. She already knew. Maybe she felt it like Percy did. 

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. He knew what it felt like to die young, but at least he got second chances.

* * *

_ Hm. The child of Poseidon is more unpredictable than expected.  _   
  
“He is becoming more and more dangerous, my lord.”

Percy was no longer the scared boy that was first brought to camp. The bandages covering Luke’s scar itched and burned. The vision in the eye above his scar was worse than his undamaged eye. 

_ You think he is too unstable to keep alive?  _   
  
“I… I’m not certain yet, my lord.”

Luke didn’t know what to expect when he left Percy under the sky. But  _ this _ was not it. He still had the blurry image of Percy’s gaping, endless eyes burned in his mind.

_ You hesitate.  _

“I think he could still be useful to us alive.”

His master was quiet for a moment. 

“My lord?”

_ Yes? _   
  
“Do you know what he is becoming?”   


Kronos laughed. _ I have my suspicions. Though young Perseus is unpredictable and growing in power, he may still be of use. And I do think causing his death would not play into our favor. _

A brief memory flashed through Luke’s mind. He recalled summoning a scorpion to distract Percy while he escaped from camp two years ago. It was meant only to be a distraction. 

“You think it’s crucial to keep him under our control?”   
  
_ I do. To harm him at this point may cause us a great deal of misfortune. Continue to monitor the boy, Luke. Keep him alive and sane if you can. _

Luke bowed. “Yes, my lord.”

* * *

When his loyal underling left, Kronos pondered to himself. Even in his broken state, he could feel a great deal of power seeping from the boy, spreading through the air and the very fabric of the universe. 

He was made of something older than a god. Older than a Titan. But knew of no plotting ancient forces other than himself. So why was young Perseus brought into existence? And what did this mean for his future plans?

* * *

Percy figured the quest to find Artemis was getting close, even though it wasn’t easy for him to find them in his visions. Everytime exhaustion settled into his bones, all he could see was the camp. His pack had been beaten to the far edges of the forest outside the border, hidden from campers and Hunters. And in the water, the cow creature was sleeping in a den beneath the waves. The otherworldly creatures were waiting for him.

Artemis had an easier time keeping in awake and focused on the sky. But he figured out pretty quickly that whatever happened to him turned out to be a double-edged sword. With his new strength came a hunger even worse than before. And a weird new bodily function that may or may not have been demigod-abomination-puberty. 

Over the hours, the gravel under his knees withered into a fine, sand-like powder. The ancient ruins nearest to him began facturing on their own and started turning into rubble. Percy couldn’t control it, not like how he loosely could before. This was just an open maw sucking everything in. A black hole in which he was the center for. For once, he could tell before Artemis when Luke was coming. He was like a blimp on a radar, setting off Percy’s hunger and making him shiver. 

Luke stopped at an even greater distance than the last time. 

“Hungry, Percy?”

He didn’t respond. He could almost feel the blood in Luke’s veins, pulsing like a stream of water.

“Are you going to behave today? Or will I have to leave before you can eat?”

Percy’s heart leapt in his throat.    
  
_ No, please… _

His stomach felt like it was eating itself, churning and roiling with hunger. 

Artemis shouted from the side, “Do not try your silver tongue with him while he’s in such a state! You lowly, filthy boy!”

Percy heard footsteps, but they weren’t approaching him. He strained his head to the side, watching as Luke approached Artemis with a strip of cloth in his hand. 

“What do you think-”   
  
“Shut up.”    
  
Despite Artemis struggling against her chains and snapping at Luke’s fingers, he managed to gag her. He ignored the goddess’ muffled scream as he approached Percy. Luke snapped his fingers, the Mist moving in to cover them as it did before. However, after only a few moments, it began to dissipate, wisps being pulled toward Percy like he was the eye of a storm. Whatever Luke had planned, he had only a few minutes of privacy at most. 

He still refused to meet Percy’s eye as he knelt in front of him. 

“You’re hungry, aren’t you? And I’m willing to bet that godly ambrosia isn’t cutting it anymore.”

Percy noticed the paper bag Luke brought with him. Whatever was inside it smelled delicious. 

Luke spoke like Percy was a cornered animal. “I think I know what it is you want.”

He pulled a chunk of raw meat wrapped in wax paper out of the bag. Percy’s nostrils flared at the scent of uncooked beef. He dropped his jaw without thinking, but then he hesitated. This had to be a trick. 

“I bet you hate me, don’t you?” Luke laughed humorlessly, “And I don’t blame you.”

He brought the meat closer to Percy’s face. He locked his jaw and refused to open his mouth despite the tears welling in his eyes. 

“Look, Percy. Haven’t you ever wondered why it was a scorpion I sent to kill you when you were twelve? And not something even more deadly? Did you ever wonder how a dozen centaurs, even with Chiron, were able to rescue you from my ship over the summer? And how I could have called my forces to gather, but didn’t? It’s because I didn’t want to kill you, Percy.”

He was helpless as Luke’s words washed over him. Percy squeezed his eyes shut, trying to remember that Hermes was the trickster god of thieves. He’d seen firsthand how good the Stolls were at lying. Luke was trying to play him, he knew it. 

“Percy, do you seriously think I want to wage war on a camp full of kids? You really think I’m that heartless?”

_ “Yes,” _ he hissed through his teeth. 

Luke laughed again. There was a faint thud against the ground. Percy cracked one eye open, seeing that Luke was now sitting cross-legged on the ground. Like they were friends. 

“Come on, Percy. You’re smarter than that. Don’t you get it? I’m trying to make a world safe for demigods. For  _ all _ demigods.”

The implication hung in the air. The smell of raw meat began mixing with the vapors of mist, hanging all around Percy’s head no matter which way he tried to turn. 

“Why are you okay with the fact the gods keep sending you on suicide quests? You think any of them care about you?”

_ My dad…  _ Percy thought before he trailed off. Would Poseidon be proud of him now? 

Luke continued, “You’re something special, Percy. You could have a place among my army. You could have a place in the world afterward.” 

No, no. Percy couldn’t. He wouldn’t risk his friends or family getting hurt because of him again. He was wrong to run away, to make them feel worse by leaving than staying.

Luke chuckled, “I know you don’t really give a damn about the gods. But you  _ do _ care about your mom. She can live like a queen in our world, after the gods are gone.”

Percy recalled the last vision he had of his mom. How she was crying in his bedroom. She missed him. Even after they both saw how he could hurt her. Would she take him back? Love him even as he was?

He didn’t realize he had started shaking until the whole cavern rumbled. Luke seemed unphased, other than the stiffness in his shoulders. Percy hated himself for it, but he had started crying in front of Luke. His whole body trembled as keeping his mouth shut became harder and harder. 

The hair hanging in his eyes was entirely white. Not a single strand of black left. 

Percy was _ so fucking _ tired. 

Luke brought his hand closer. “It’s okay, Percy. Eat. I know you want it.”

Percy uttered a silent prayer not to the gods or his father, but to Annabeth. Grover. His mom.  _ I’m sorry. _

He began to eat. 

Every bite was more divine and more filling than any ambrosia. It was the most delicious thing he ate in days. It delivered pure relief as his stomach quieted and strength began seeping into his bones. It was so wonderful, so carnal and perfect that Percy couldn’t stop crying. 

“It’s alright, Percy. It’s alright.” Luke brushed the hair from his face like an older brother, “It’s going to be alright.”

And Percy desperately wanted to believe that. 

* * *

After days of travel, after days of barely resting and barely eating, after losing Bianca to the land without rain, they finally made it to Mt. Othrys. The Mountain of Despair, where Atlas was  _ once _ held. The four of them managed to dodge Ladon, the dragon guardian of the tree of golden apples, but they had a much bigger foe waiting for them. 

Annabeth, Thalia, and Grover followed Zoë up to the top of the mountain. Already, she could feel it. A sense of dread that made her heart pound. Before they reached the peak, Zoë faltered.

“This place… it carries so much more evil than I remember.”

She was once the keeper of this place, a child of Atlas until she joined the Hunt. But she was wrong. Annabeth shook her head and began racing up the path past Zoë. 

“No! I know this feeling! It’s Percy!” 

The others followed, sprinting to keep up with her. They reached the peak after climbing over the crest of a steep hill. Here, the fog was so dense and dark, the fading sunlight almost didn’t pierce the banks of mist. Above them, the sky funneled downward in a concentration of cosmos and clouds. And at the center of it, keeping the sky from touching the ground, was Percy. 

He looked even worse than Grover’s description from his last vision. His hair was pure white, sweat drenching his shirt. The mist swirled around him and the gravel under his feet was a smooth sand for a few yards all around him. He looked like the eye of a hurricane, the storm churning around him. 

Next to her, Zoë gasped. “My lady!” 

She raced to Artemis. 

Percy raised his head at the sound of them approaching. And until now, Annabeth had been  _ determined _ to look Percy in the eye. To convince him that, no matter what, he was going home with them. 

It didn’t matter. Against all her willpower, some unknown force took hold of her stare and made her look away. She could get as close as looking in Percy’s general direction, but it was as if her eyes would rather look at the ground, the sky, a bank of mist, anything other than Percy. 

“Percy, we’re here for you,” she said, trying to keep her voice level, “We-”

_ “Go.” _

Percy’s voice was nothing more than a strained whisper. 

“You have to leave, it’s a trap.”

Too late. 

“What a welcomed surprise, daughter of Zeus!” A voice echoed across the clearing. 

Annabeth grabbed Grover as they and Thalia backed away from the monsters that emerged from the fog. One was none other than Altas himself. He was massive, but he had the same eyes and proud look in his face as Zoë. Except he had none of the kindness in his stare that Annabeth grew to recognize. 

Annabeth raised her dagger as she saw Luke emerge, followed by a handful of monsters carrying a golden sarcophagus. She didn’t think it was possible, but the air around her felt even colder and crueler with the presence of that coffin. 

Luke moved to stand in front of Percy, sword drawn. 

_ “Luke,” _ Thalia snarled as she summoned her shield. 

He looked terrible, face pale, scar red and irritated, and hair almost entirely gray. And he didn’t look happy to see them.

“Hey, Thalia. Long time, no see.”

“You traitor!” She shouted. The words looked like it physically pained Luke to hear. 

Zoë looked like she was having trouble breaking Artemis’ chains. “Atlas, free my lady Artemis!” 

The titan laughed. “I could, if I wanted to. But you see, young Perseus here has been holding the sky for some time now. And he will need to be replaced soon.”

Zoë had a murderous look in her eyes as she drew her bow. But there was something beneath them. A desperate passion, a willingness to do anything just to get what she wanted. Annabeth knew it well. 

“No, Zoë! Do not offer. You will not survive it.” Artemis said as she strained against her golden chains.

Atlas turned his attention back to Thalia, eyes flickering over her form. “As for you, daughter of Zeus, I was once convinced we needed you. However, Luke’s gambit seems to have paid off.”

He gestured to Percy, whose chest was heaving in shallow breaths. 

“We have a new pawn now! One worthy of toppling Olympus in the name of Kronos.”

The energy in the cloudy cavern spiked. Everyone backed away as Percy exhaled, filling the air with vaporized anxiety. 

_ “Atlas,”  _ he hissed. 

_ Percy, don’t.  _ Annabeth silently pleaded. Her mind raced as she began forming a plan on how to free Percy without letting the sky fall. But the titan seemed to think Percy was finally willing to swear allegiance to their side. His eyes gleamed with ruthless pride. 

“Yes, child? Are you ready to accept your place in our army?”   


And then Percy laughed. 

“Only if you suck my dick first.”

In that instance of stunned silence, Annabeth lunged for the titan and slashed him across the side with her knife. 

It was chaos from there. 

Thalia charged at Luke, arcs of lightning dancing across her skin as her spear clashed with his sword.

Zoë began firing arrows at Atlas, whose modern suit morphed into full Greek battle armor. A massive javelin appeared in his hand as he began taking swipes at Annabeth. For a guy trapped under the sky for the past few thousand years, he moved like a trained warrior.

From the corner of her eye, Annabeth caught glimpses of Grover trying to break Artemis’ chains with a rock and of Percy beneath the sky. She had an idea. A slapdash, reckless idea that, if the roles were reversed, Percy wouldn’t hesitate to try.

* * *

Percy gritted his teeth and swore under his breath as the battle raged around him. His muscles strained under the weight of the sky, his body aching for relief. After being held prisoner for so long, he wanted to fight too.

Artemis’ lieutenant, Zoë, was every bit of a marksman that the goddess described. But Percy could tell she was in pain. There was a venom in her blood that was slowing her down. She and Annabeth would never beat Atlas on their own.

He watched as Annabeth lunged for Atlas, but something was off about it. She held back, feigning a strike as she ducked and rolled under his javelin. He saw the trick and struck her across the back, sending her sprawling across the ground.

She grunted as she came to a stop just in front of Percy.

“Annabeth, get up! Get out of here!” 

He had no idea if even speaking was making things worse. He was alive and he was surviving under the sky, but he barely had any control over his powers. 

Annabeth wiped the grit from her face as she sat up. She wasn’t looking at him, but she raised her hand and pressed it against the sky next to Percy’s. 

“Percy, I’m sorry! I’m sorry I wasn’t a better friend to you.”

He gaped at her.    
  
“Why are you apologizing to  _ me?  _ I ran away from camp!  _ I _ hurt  _ you!” _

Atlas howled in rage as Zoë managed to nail him with half a dozen arrows in the chinks of his armor. He started ripping the arrows out, filling the air with the scent of metallic golden ichor. Even with all her skill, Percy doubted Zoë would be able to hold her own forever. 

Speaking quickly, Annabeth said, “Percy, if anyone can free Artemis - or fight Atlas- it’s you.”   
  
“But- I can’t. The sky…”

His eyes widened.    


“No, you won’t survive it!”

“I’ll just have to hold it for a few minutes.”

“Wait, maybe we-”

A shadow fell over them. Altas loomed over Annabeth with his javelin raised, a smile on his lips. 

“At least one pest will perish today!”   


Annabeth brought her other hand up to take the sky. For a single second, they held it as one. 

_ You got this, Wise Girl.  _

Then Percy tackled Atlas. 

He heard Annabeth let out a shout as the full weight of the sky came down on her. He and Atlas went sprawling across the ground. He punched the titan in the teeth, all his muscles feeling loose and rubbery. He inhaled, and felt how easily it came to him now. Without the burden of the sky, his whole body felt as light as air itself. And all his movements seemed to play at twice their normal speed as his eyes landed on Artemis. He sprinted for her, hearing the sound of a bow firing arrow after arrow in his wake. 

“Percy!” Grover shouted, a look of relief on his face. 

“Move over.”

Percy pulled Riptide out of his pocket and tried to slash at the chains. Sparks flew, but they didn’t break. 

“They’re enchanted,” Artemis said as she strained against them. 

Percy had another idea. “Grover, can you play a spell to slow down Atlas?”   
  
“Leave it to me!” 

As Grover pulled out his panpipes, Percy realized how much he missed his friends. He wasn’t free yet, and there was danger pressing down on him from all sides, but at least he wasn’t alone. 

He inhaled and, not knowing what else to do, grabbed a length of chain and bit down on it. He could taste the magic mixed with gold on his tongue. He could taste the strength in each link. He exhaled and the chain crumbled into dust in his mouth. As Percy gagged, the golden chains fell in a heap on the ground. Artemis stepped forward, her hands still bound by golden handcuffs. 

“Let me,” Percy said. He bit Artemis’ chains and snapped them like they were nothing. 

She stared at her wrists in awe. “I owe you a great dept, Percy Jackson.”   
  
A shout came from behind him. He turned, finding Atlas ripping apart the vines tangling his legs as Zoë launched barrage after barrage of arrows at him. 

“You can pay me back by taking care of Dickwad over there.”

Her silver eyes gleamed. “I would like nothing more.”

They moved as one, Percy lunging at Atlas with his sword while Artemis turned into a bear. She slashed the titan with her claws before transforming into a falcon and clawing at his eyes. 

Together, he and Artemis drove Atlas back, forcing him closer and closer to Annabeth. 

_ Get ready,  _ Artemis spoke in his mind. 

Atlas, realizing he was being cornered, bared his teeth and made a desperate swing at Artemis. The hit would’ve landed, if Zoë hadn’t jumped in the way. 

_ “No!”  _ She shouted, firing an arrow directly in Atlas’ eye as he struck her. 

She went flying, almost too fast to see, and slammed into the base of a broken pillar at the edge of the clearing. 

Atlas staggered backward, Percy slashing his ankle so he was forced to kneel. Annabeth rolled out of the way just in time. The sky came crashing down on Atlas’ shoulders. 

Percy found Annabeth lying on her side, breathing hard. 

“Come on, Wise Girl. Get up, you’ll be fine.”

She already had a streak of gray in her hair. Annabeth squeezed her eyes shut, standing with some difficulty. 

“What about Thalia?”   


Percy had almost forgotten. 

They both turned, finding Thalia pushing Luke closer and closer to the edge of a cliff. They watched as she knocked the sword out of his hand. They ran to Thalia’s side and Percy noticed how she was quietly crying.

“Thalia, don’t do it,” Annabeth pleaded.

“He’s a traitor,” she said with a staggering breath. 

Percy was torn. He wanted to believe Luke had some good in him. But he also saw the terrible things Luke was willing to do. 

Luke, despite looking so pale and sweaty, didn’t seem to fear Thalia. 

“What will you do with me, then? Bring me in chains to Olympus? Tote me around like a prize for your daddy?”   
  
Thalia hesitated. Luke’s eyes shifted toward Percy’s general direction. 

“You think they’ll welcome you back? Treat you like a hero?”

Percy didn’t say anything.

Luke made a desperate lunge to escape. 

Without thinking, Thalia slammed into him with her shield. He went staggering backward, teetering at the edge of the cliff. 

Percy reached out for him. 

Luke fell, and they all heard a sickening crunch as he hit the rocks below. 

Then there was nothing but silence. Annabeth was breathing in quick, shallow gasps. Percy edged toward the cliff. His blood ran cold. 

Luke’s broken, bloodied body laid at least fifty feet below them. But that wasn’t the scary part. An army of monsters had been marching their way up the mountain from the  _ Princess Andromeda  _ this whole time. 

“This was all a set up! We need to get out of here!” Percy said.

His eyes landed on Artemis, who was kneeling next to Zoë. Grover was by her side, playing the frantic notes of a healing song. Percy could tell it wasn’t working. He somehow knew Zoë was close to death, the same way Luke was. Both teetered on the edge between life and oblivion. 

Artemis raised her head and whistled. A flash of moonlight solidified into a chariot pulled by a fleet of silver deer.

“Everyone in!” She shouted. 

He helped get Zoë into the chariot, the others coming in behind him. Percy’s heart was still hammering in his chest, even though he swore the adrenaline was wearing off. As they took off, he fixated on the shallow rise and fall of Zoë’s chest and how her eyes fluttered open and closed. Did he look like that when he was trapped under the sky?

Artemis found a field for them to land in for the time being. No one dared to move Zoë. Artemis knelt by her side, frowning.    
  
“I can try to heal you, I can-”

Zoë wrapped her hand around Artemis’.

“Stars…” she whispered, cloudy eyes fixed on the sky. “I can see the stars.”

Percy glanced to the side and saw Annabeth and Thalia quietly crying. Grover’s lower lip was trembling. 

“You’ve served me well,” Artemis whispered. 

“I can see the stars, my lady,” Zoë repeated, voice filled with awe. 

Percy felt it. The last thread of her life force snapping. He watched as Artemis whispered a quiet prayer. Zoë’s body shimmered and vanished. When Artemis exhaled, she blew a wisp of silver light into the air. The next moment, a new constellation appeared in the sky. A girl with a bow, forever running through the sky. 

“Live forever in the stars, my lieutenant,” Artemis said. 

Except her voice sounded muffled. Faint. Percy realized there was still this roaring in his ears from the battle. His whole body still felt too light. He looked down at himself. Nothing was wrong, but he could feel himself fading too. As if the sky was keeping him in one piece, and without it he was just stardust. Would he fade away too? 

Annabeth tugged on his sleeve. He startled, following Annabeth as the rest of them got off the chariot. 

Artemis said, “I’m afraid I can’t take you with me. The meeting at Olympus starts today and I must be there.”   
  
Her silver eyes lingered on Percy. 

“I will not let the other gods try to hide from this war any longer. But don’t worry, I’ll send help for you.”

In a blast of white light, she was gone. The next instant, Percy got the air squeezed out of his lungs by Grover hugging him. Annabeth was on him the next instant, face buried in his shoulder. 

“P-P-Percy!” Grover bleated. “You made me so worried!”

“You held the sky up for a  _ week! _ How are you even alive?” Annabeth asked. 

Percy froze. He had no idea what to do. He glanced toward Thalia, whose eyes were fixed on Zoë’s constellation. 

He swallowed. “I’m sorry, guys. I- I shouldn’t have left camp.”

“It’s alright, Percy. Just come back with us, okay?” Annabeth asked. 

He hugged them back, resting his head on Grover’s shoulder. “Okay.”

He wondered what it felt like to hug him. Did his aura feel worse with physical touch? Percy honestly couldn’t bring himself to care, selfishly melting into his friends’ touch. He couldn’t remember the last time someone willingly held him. 

His mind flashed briefly to Luke before he buried the thought. 

“Guys?” Thalia asked, voice hoarse. 

Percy heard the beat of wings and the whinny of a familiar horse. 

_ Hey, boss. Where’ve you been? _

Blackjack set down on the field, two of his friends landing behind him. 

_ Whoa, you really do know the son of Poseidon.  _ One said. 

_ As if I’d ever lie.  _ Blackjack proudly said. He came up to Percy and nudged his hair. 

_ Your wolf pack has been missing you big time. If I were you, I’d get back pronto.  _

Percy managed a faint smile. “Thanks, Blackjack. Think you can give us a ride?”

The black stallion spread his wings.  _ With pleasure.  _

The pegasi glided through the sky faster than Percy thought was possible. Grover rode on one, Thalia on another, and Annabeth sat behind Percy as they rode on Blackjack. He couldn’t tell if the pegasi were flying with a slight silver aura around them, or if that was just his imagination. 

Even though having Annabeth’s arms wrapped loosely around his waist grounded him, Percy still felt too light. It was as if a strong burst of wind could send him scattering. The feeling was getting worse in his fingers and toes. It wasn’t quite like frostbite, but he could tell the feeling in his extremities was fading. 

He felt Annabeth lean forward and ask, “Are you alright?”   
  
Percy fought the urge to lie. He shook his head.    
  
“I don’t think so.”   
  
“What’s wrong?” Annabeth asked, voice sharp and clear against the wind. 

“I...I don’t know. I don’t feel like myself.” Percy swallowed, hating what he was about to tell her, “I think I’m dying, Wise Girl.”

_ “What?  _ We have to land. We need to get you help, or-”

Percy wrapped his hands over her own, lamenting how he couldn’t feel the warmth that was surely radiating from her. He was glad he was sitting in front of her, he didn’t want to have to turn around to tell her this. 

“This won’t be the first time I’ve died.”

He told her about the times in his life he was certain he was dead. He told her about how he sometimes dreams of going to a place with no body, only to wake up intact and with no wounds from before. He told her about the voice that came to him when he held up the sky, the one he begged for help. 

“It’s not Kronos,” Percy said before Annabeth could ask him, “I know what Kronos sounds like, and this being isn’t him.”

“Then who is it? Percy, you know how insane this sounds?”   
  
“How else would I have survived holding up the sky? You felt it for yourself, it’s agony.”

Annabeth was quiet for a moment. 

“The thing about this voice is that it’s almost friendly. I trust it,” Percy said. 

“Trust it enough to bring you back a-again?”

Percy didn’t think there was a thing in the world Annabeth would have trouble understanding, but he heard her stumble over her words. 

“Maybe. I don’t know. I just… I don’t want you to see me die.”

Tears welled in his eyes. Annabeth’s arms wrapped tighter around him.    
  
“We’ll get you to Olympus. I won’t let you die, Percy.”

He really wanted to believe her. Percy closed his eyes, sinking into that familiar space of almost-dreaming. He saw Olympus and the year-rounders in the streets on their yearly field trip. He saw the Hunters waiting for their goddess and lieutenant at camp. He saw his hellhounds treading around the magic border, some of them missing. He saw the strange sea creature waiting off the coast of the camp. Percy lingered, wondering why he was seeing this creature again and again. 

The poor thing mooed and seemed to stare directly at Percy with its big, brown eyes. 

“Hey, there. What are you doing here?”   
  
The half-cow, half-serpent swam in a circle around Percy. It mooed again, this time with urgency. 

Percy jolted upright as Blackjack came in for a landing. He rubbed his eyes as all of Olympus sprawled out before him. 

“Come on,” Annabeth said, urging Percy to hurry. 

The fading feeling was in his limbs now, making his legs feel like jelly. Seeing him struggling to stand, Annabeth threw his arm over her shoulders. A nymph approached them and said they were wanted in the throne room. Annabeth scowled. 

“We don’t have time for this, Percy needs help.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Grover asked. 

“I’m fine,” he said, even though he was starting to get lightheaded. 

The four of them were led to the throne room regardless, where all the Olympians were gathered. Percy noticed how some sneered at him. Namely, Ares and Dionysus. Others, like Athena and Demeter, seemed only mildly disgusted to see him. Then there was his dad, who saw him and could immediately tell something was wrong with Percy. A part of him wondered what gave it away. The week old clothes, the smell of decay, the pure white hair, or the fact that he was almost literally dead on his feet?

Percy almost had an out of body experience as he watched the gods argue over whether he and Thalia should be killed for the crimes of being their dads’ kids. Artemis refused to have it, insisting they should be rewarded for their efforts. Poseidon likewise refused to let the council vote to kill Percy. 

How touching. Percy kind of wanted to spoil the mood by opening his mouth, but he decided to wait a bit longer. 

Thalia dodged a major bullet by accepting to be Artemis’ new lieutenant. She will never have to turn sixteen and will never have to be the child of the Great Prophecy. But there was no out for Percy. He was the only viable kid of the Big Three now, and that meant Olympus was his for the saving or razing. 

As he listened to Thalia, Annabeth, and Grover argue his case for him, a thought occurred to Percy. He wondered why he didn’t recognize it sooner. The half-bull serpent from his visions looked almost exactly like one of the most obscure creatures in the bedtime stories his mom used to read to him. The Ophiotaurus, the creature who could bring Olympus’ ruin if its intestines were burned in a sacrifice. 

Percy nudged Annabeth. He whispered to her,  _ “I need your help.” _

She paused, subtly quieting so that the others could talk over her.    


_ “What is it?” _

_ “There’s this creature that’s been hiding in the waters outside of Camp Half-Blood. The Ophiotaurus. Find a way to keep it safe, and don’t tell the gods.” _

Annabeth’s eyes widened. Percy reckoned she knew what the Ophiotaurus was. 

_ “But Percy, why are you telling me now?” _   


He cracked a smile, one that Annabeth couldn’t see because she was staring at the floor. Despite himself and his current circumstances, Percy burst into laughter. The commotion in the room died in an instant. 

“And what exactly is so funny, boy?” Zeus asked, scowling at him.

“It’s just that-” Percy felt really lightheaded now, “-you’re all here arguing about what should happen to me, but  _ none _ of you have noticed that I’m already dying.”

Hades, invited to Olympus for the yearly council, said nothing. Poseidon stood, a look of alarm on his face. 

“Wonderful! That’s one more issue resolved!” Dionysus said with false glee. 

Percy hit the floor. He thought Annabeth let go of him until he sat up and looked down at himself. He was literally fading, skin becoming translucent to reveal the veins beneath pulsing with shimmering, dark blood. The tips of his fingers were completely invisible. 

“Percy!” He heard Poseidon shout.

Percy watched with an almost detached sense of calmness as he began to vanish from the physical world. Poseidon was kneeling in front of Percy now, hand reaching out. It passed right through his body. He figured he only had seconds left, given how quickly the rest of him was fading.

“Percy, do not worry. We-”

Percy shook his head. “Dad, forget me! Find my mom and tell her that I’ll be...”   


Too late. Percy’s voice faded as his vision went black. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank y'all for reading! 
> 
> Also sad fact: this chapter was originally going to feature the dam scene with undercover Poseidon as a generic tour guide giving Annabeth vague but Suspiciously Specific Advice, but it got cut :( so please just imagine it instead, thank u


	8. birth by chess or benign

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! A little midnight update! I've been struggling to manage my time lately, but I'm done with midterms and decided to post a small follow up to the last chapter before I really start to kick things off. I'm guessing that I'll probably read all of Battle of the Labyrinth in a few sittings and hit u guys with another really big update.
> 
> Also, my birthday is tomorrow and I'm turning 21! So yay for me! 🥳
> 
> (Title from White Ball- Miracle Musical)

Percy watched with an almost detached sense of calmness as he began to vanish from the physical world. Poseidon was kneeling in front of Percy now, hand reaching out. It passed right through his body. He figured he only had seconds left, given how quickly the rest of him was fading.

“Percy, do not worry. We-”

Percy shook his head. “Dad, forget me! Find my mom and tell her that I’ll be...”

Too late. Percy’s voice faded as his vision went black. The throne room around him vanished as the darkness washed over him. It felt like he was sinking into some kind of inky liquid, neither warm nor cold and neither solid nor air. 

Percy couldn’t move. He found himself in a lucid dream where he was aware of the darkness around him, but could do nothing about it. He had no mouth, no tongue, no lungs to push air out of. He struggled to feel his fingers and toes, only to realize with each passing second he had no body at all. He was just a consciousness existing in the quiet darkness, helpless as he waited. And for a long, long moment, nothing happened. There was no explosion of a universe before his (non) eyes, no voice. Nothing. 

A flash of fear hit him, a stray thought that wondered if _this,_ this infinite nothingness, was his eternal afterlife. 

_Please, no…_ Percy pleaded. It felt like he was in a sensory deprivation tank, except he had no way of knowing if even he was real. 

He’d rather have that familiar cosmic voice or even the weight of the sky over this eternal, empty solitude. 

Percy became desperate. He clawed at his surroundings, forcing his senses to extend outward. It was like how he grasped his environment for sources of water, but with his whole being. He screamed with his nonexistent mouth as his grip on _something_ became stronger. 

Bit by bit, starting from his core and extending outward, Percy felt himself become tangible again. He felt his bones forming, condensing, followed by flesh and blood. He felt as the grab for that strange _otherness_ became less of a pull with his very being, and more like he was actually reaching out for it. 

With a gasp, Percy opened his eyes. 

_Welcome back, child._

The universe sprawled out before him. 

_This time, you did not even need me to assemble your body for you._

Percy’s mind raced. Now that he was out of that abyssal dark, he felt like it had been both years and seconds all at once. He looked down at himself. His skin was a pale, translucent green, his veins black and inky. Miniature clouds of gas and stardust traveled across his skin in a milky, wispy semblance of a Greek chiton. 

_Percy._

Now that he had a voice that could be heard and a body that could feel, he balled his hands into fists and felt the frustration well up in him. 

_What the hell?_

The universe shuttered, surprised but not necessarily angered. 

_Is something the matter?_ _  
_ _  
_ _I asked for your help and I still died!_

For the first time ever, the universe before him began to condense. But instead of stars and fragments of debris like Percy, whole galaxies complied and warped themselves into the shape of a human adult. The image of a person with the same translucent skin wrapped in banks of misty clouds appeared in front of Percy.

The being opened their eyes. Within its hollow eye sockets were blackholes that sucked in everything they saw. Percy was floating through the cosmos, but he still found a way to take a step back. 

The being held their arms out, as if expecting a hug. They had no mouth, and maybe Percy didn’t have one either, but they spoke, _I gave you my help, did I not? I made you stronger, yes?_ _  
_ _  
_ _But you-_

_Percy._ The being stepped closer. Maybe sensing Percy’s hesitance, they lowered their ams. They stared at him, boring into Percy with more weight than a hundred skies. 

_Perseus, you must know who I am by now._

He went silent. Percy dared not speak, knowing that names had power. 

The being stepped closer and for some reason, Percy let them. He let this creature of eternal, ever-churning power embrace him. Immediately, Percy gasped and melted into their touch. It was indescribable. It was like melding with another being in no way he could ever describe. It was knowing he had found a kindred spirit. It was sharing the memories of milena passing in what felt like seconds. Of inventing stars and galaxies. It was knowing what the rise and fall of Ouranos and Kronos and Zeus looked like. It was like coming home. 

_You’re Chaos._

_Indeed._ A hand ran through his hair.

Percy was reminded of his mother. His eyes closed. 

_Why me?_

_What do you mean?_

Percy asked, _Why am I like this?_

Chaos was quiet. When they spoke, their voice came out soft and hushed. 

_I’ve watched my children have children who had children of their own, the cycle repeating endlessly. Now you little demigods live in a world so far removed from me. I wanted to remember what it was like to sire life. To create something and know it came from me. I wanted to watch a little thing of my own creation grow and become strong._

Percy opened his eyes and broke away from Chaos’ hold.  
  
_You were lonely?_  
  
The elder primordial laughed softly. _I suppose so._

Percy stared at what was arguably an eldritch abomination as it caressed his cheek. 

_I didn’t know things like you could ever feel loneliness._

_Things like_ me? _Have you forgotten that your blood is my blood, child?_

Percy’s brows furrowed. 

_But I’m a son of Poseidon. How can I also be your child?_

Chaos hesitated. Their eyes conveyed nothing. Literally. 

_You were born weak and premature, Percy. You would have died in your cradle, only a few days old, if I had not intervened._

Chaos cupped his face in both hands, the way his mother sometimes did. Percy didn’t know if he liked or hated it.

_I gave you a part of myself. And now, here you are._

Percy took another step back, arms wrapping around himself. He almost wasn’t sure if being dead was worse than being some strange, demigod abomination. 

_And make no mistake. Despite what you have believed your whole life, you are not an abomination, Percy._

His blood(?) ran cold. Could Chaos read his thoughts?

_You are my child, Percy._ Mine. _You are more powerful than any demigod ever born. You are still part human, yes, but you are also a primordial._

Percy shook his head, unable to understand. Why him? And why was he learning all this now?  
_  
_ _But am I dead? Forever?_

Chaos cocked their head to the side and took a step closer. Percy took another back, hating how Chaos kept trying to get closer to him. 

_For you, time is an alien construct. You could indeed remain here, technically dead, until the end of time. Whether that feels like a single moment or trillions of years is your decision._

Percy felt a glimmer of hope. 

_Or?_

Chaos said nothing, but it was as if the universe became agitated. For a second, stars burst and galaxies spun out of control. Then everything calmed down.

_Or,_ Chaos said, _you can return to your miniscule world. Live as a normal demigod would._

They studied Percy carefully. _But child, wouldn’t you rather be here? There’s so much I could teach you._

Chaos held out their hand and a miniature yellow star began to form in their palm. 

_I could give you power that would make Zeus’ master bolt look like a child’s toy._

The star expanded, becoming darker and redder until it exploded in a dazzling supernova.

_Or, as I know you enjoy the water…_

Chaos held their other hand. Percy watched as the universe warped itself and a miniature planet so very much like Earth appeared in their palm. The oceans formed, but there was even more water compared to the land than on Earth. 

_This could be yours, Percy. A whole world for you to reign over. And once you’re ready, you could wield stars and solar systems, perhaps even a galaxy or two once you’re ready._

Percy stared at the tiny planet. A part of him, the part that always hungered for more, purred at the thought of holding so much power. 

But then he remembered his last words on Earth. His Earth. His mom thought he was dead. Percy couldn’t just leave her. And he could abandon his friends, either. 

_I’m sorry,_ he said, _but I think I have to go back. They need me._

The tiny world shattered, water spilling and evaporating as chunks of earth dissolved into dust. Despite being a planet no larger than a baseball, Percy felt a flash of dread as he watched it destroy itself. 

_You never want to stay with me._

The universe went still. Quiet. Impossibly so. 

_I am just as much your creator as Poseidon or your mother. Why is it that you always turn away from me?_

Percy instinctively took another step back. 

_Did I not help you when you needed it most? Have I not given you incredible power already?_

Percy steeled himself. _That’s the problem. I don’t want all this power. I hate how I’m always hungry. I hate that even my friends can’t look at me anymore._

Not for the first time or even the hundredth time, Percy only wanted to know what it was like to be normal. 

Chaos stared at him.  
  
_Perseus, you are a child of sea and abyss. Your power is meant to_ grow, _not to be restrained._

Percy clenched and unclenched his jaw. A part of him wanted to scream. A part of him wanted to cry. 

_I have to go back so I can finish what I started._

There was a war brewing on Earth, and Percy refused to abandon everyone he knew for some sort of cosmic afterlife. Surprisingly, Chaos seemed hopeful. 

_I’ve already altered the Fate’s design by keeping you alive and imbuing you with my strength. The war and the Great Prophecy looming over your world may not occur how you think it will._

Did that mean that Chaos knew what _would_ happen?

_Show me what’s happening on Earth without me._

_Please,_ Percy added. 

Chaos seemed to not like the idea, but they abided. They reached out with both hands and touched Percy’s temples. 

He blinked. 

Immediately, he was back at Camp Half-Blood. Grover was at the shore with the Ophiotaurus, speaking in hushed whispers. The scene shifted and Percy found himself standing before Annabeth, his heart and stomach clenching at the sight of her. She looked terrible, exhausted and her hair hanging in loose tangles down her shoulders. She was talking to a kid, the boy from Westover. The boy whose sister died on the quest. 

Even though everything sounded muffled and distant, Percy could tell he was shouting, tears running down his face. Annabeth, despite being a wreck herself, seemed like she was trying to calm him down. 

The boy stomped his foot, causing a fissure in the earth to appear and nearly swallow Annabeth whole. She leapt out of the way in time, but she couldn’t stop the boy from running into the woods. 

It was hard to tell what happened after that. 

Percy saw his mother screaming, crying. Beating her fist against Poseidon’s chest as they stood in his old apartment. 

He saw the boy in a graveyard, conversing with the translucent forms of the dead. 

He saw Luke being tended to by demigods and monsters, his body being mended by a force beyond his control. 

He saw an infinite mass of corridors and darkness. He saw a battle. He saw the boy raising armies of the dead and causing cracks in the earth. He saw Luke approaching the boy, sword lowered. 

He saw a place he didn’t recognize. Something akin to Camp, but as if designed by a fussy math teacher. He saw teenagers in gold armor. 

He saw flashes of sparks as swords clashed against swords. He saw the whole sky darken as an army of monsters marched on New York. He saw demigods shouting, raising their shields, dying to the hordes. 

He saw fleets of demigods struggling to battle their way up Mount Othrys. He saw flashes of lightning amid the swirling fog. 

He saw the boy with a sword as black as night charge into a battle on a chariot pulled by skeletal horses. 

He saw Olympus in flames, the Ophiotaurus dead. 

He saw as the world became plunged into descent and ruin. He watched as Camp Half-Blood burned. 

Annabeth laid at his feet, broken and unmoving. 

Percy gasped, jerking out of Chaos’ hold. He fell to his knees, clutching his chest as his whole body shook. Tears were streaming down his face, wetting his lips.

_Is- is that what’s going to happen?_

_It is what will happen, what is currently happening, and has already happened. It all depends on how you wish to look at it, child._

Chaos knelt before him and wrapped their arms around Percy. This time, he refused to sink into the comforting warmth of Chaos’ hold. 

_I have to go back._

_I was afraid you would say that._

Chaos pulled away from Percy and stood. They pulled bits and pieces of the universe from their surroundings until a new body began to form. It looked like a perfect copy of Percy as a human. With pale skin and his newly acquired white hair, even coming along with a familiar orange shirt. Percy would rather have a healthy sheen to his skin and his black hair back, but he'd take anything.

_This is almost an exact replica of your old body._

Percy struggled to his feet. _A-almost?_

_Think of it as a dam. Rather than allowing the water to flow freeling, this will restrict your strength. Make your powers more muted._

Percy reached out, wanting to touch the copy of himself, then hesitated. 

_And my hunger?_

Chaos sighed. _Will also be muted. All my gifts to you will be subdued. Instead of being readily at your disposal, you will have to willingly conjure them. But Percy, understand that this will not necessarily_ be _you. This will be like a second skin. Once you have it, you may feel compelled to shed it._

He didn’t think twice. 

_Deal._

Percy was willing to live with anything, so long as he prevented the future he saw. He reached out and touched the copy of himself. Immediately, it felt like he was being sucked into the body, filling it as if he was a rush of water filling a hole. The universe around him became blurred and unfocused.

_Goodbye, my child._

His vision went black as Percy felt himself begin to fall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chaos: and then I said I saved him from death as a baby. You know, like a liar.
> 
> lmao if you've been picking up on the hints in this chapter, I'm basically gonna yeet HoO out the window and do whatever the fuck I want. Lmk if you guys are into the idea of having Percy discover Camp Jupiter while still in the PJO timeline bc I think I want to make this a Jercy fic?? idk yet 👀👀👀
> 
> also, look forward to depressed, emo Nico bonding with stressed, jaded Percy
> 
> **EDIT: ok guys i've made the choice to not have ships, please respect my decision and don't bring it up again thx ******


	9. resident minor, how do you plead?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi y'all, here's another surprise update in the middle of the night lol. Also for anyone wondering, I had a really nice birthday this week where I spent the whole night writing a lot of this chapter :) 
> 
> That being said, God damn me because I didn't even get to BOTL in this chapter AT ALL. The way things are looking, I'll probably have one more intermediary chapter before BOTL, so pls bear with me. But for now, please enjoy the update!
> 
> (Title from Mind Electric- Miracle Musical [btw all the titles for this fic are from their music so y'all better have checked their album out by now bc its fire])

Percy finished filling his new body with his consciousness and the next thing he knew, he was jerking forward. His stomach was still churning as if in free fall, his hands clutching the surface beneath him in a death grip. A shout escaped his throat. The room was dark but even with the meager moonlight, Percy would recognize his old bedroom anywhere. 

He heard the sound of footsteps in the hall and his bedroom door was thrown open. The rest of the apartment was dark, but the unmistakable form of his mother stood in the doorway. She was dressed in a nightgown, a shawl wrapped over her shoulders. He squinted, the world clarifying as the darkness seemed to ebb from his vision. She was shaking, one hand covering her mouth. 

“P-percy?”

 _“Mom,”_ his voice came out in a hushed whisper. 

She hit the lights as she ran to the bed and nearly tackled him with a hug. His mom sobbed, shoulders shaking as she squeezed Percy and laid her hand on the back of his neck. Percy bowed his head and hugged her back, missing her touch after a week held captive under the sky.

“Mom. I’m so s-sorry. I’m so sorry…”

He never should have run away. His mom didn’t deserve to go through that. 

“Shh… oh, Percy,” she whispered something he couldn’t make out.

“I’m alright, I promise. I’ll go back to camp and I’ll-”

His mom pulled away, cupping his face in her hands and brushing the hair from his face. His white hair, a relic from his imprisonment. His mom stared at him, stroking her trembling fingers through his hair. 

“Percy, I thought you were dead.”

Percy shook his head. “No! No, I’m fine. I promise.”

“But,” her lower lip trembled, “Po- your father came today. He- he told me…”

“I know. I asked him to find you. I-”

Percy stared at his mother’s face and realized she was staring back at him. Without thinking, he raised one hand and touched the corner of his eye.

She was staring back at him like Percy was the most important thing in the world. 

Percy couldn’t bear to hurt her any longer. He bowed his head and babbled to her all the secrets he’d been hiding. The nightmares. The hunger. The hellhounds. The dying-but-not-quite. The fact that he technically had three parents. He never wanted to hide anything from her again.

“But- but that shouldn’t be possible, Percy. I mean,” she hesitated, _“C-Chaos?_ How would you… how could they…”

“They said they saved me when I was a baby.”

His mother studied him carefully, watching him with eyes heavy with dark bags, but alert and unflinching. She looked like she was about to say something when they both froze. Someone was in their apartment. 

* * *

Annabeth threw the torch onto the pyre, watching as the flames took hold. Percy’s burial shroud, made of blue silk and shining like abalone, and the way the enchanted flames burned in hues of sea green and deep blue mocked her. Percy wasn’t even _in_ the pyre. It was only a hollow gesture, Olympus’ attempt to quell the loss of what could have been a great hero. 

For Annabeth and Grover, they had lost their best friend. 

Even though her jaw was clenched shut, Annabeth’s vision grew blurry as the tears slipped down her face. The Muses were playing a song, soft and mournful, though the music could hardly reach her over the roar of the fire. Annabeth blinked hard, vision clearing as more tears trickled down her face. Percy’s pyre burned before Annabeth, Grover, and Thalia. Poseidon and Artemis stood beside them. A handful of nymphs, satyrs, and several other gods stood at a distance. 

Percy couldn’t even be turned into stars like how Zoë was. He was just _gone._

When the fire died down, not slowly but all at once, all that remained was a shimmering pile of ash. Poseidon stepped forward. He waved his hand and the ashes went scattering in a cloud of silvery-gray over New York. Annabeth saw his lips move, maybe in prayer. 

The sea god looked terrible. He seemed to have aged ten years in the span of an hour. Now, Poseidon looked less like a god and more like a man. A man who had just witnessed his own son die. 

_Shouldn’t he be used to it by now?_ Annabeth thought bitterly. 

A throne room full of gods and not one thought to intervene. 

Percy’s last words played on repeat in her mind. 

_“Dad, forget me! Find my mom and tell her that I’ll be...”_

He didn’t even get to finish. Gone, and the very last thing Percy thought of before he died was his mother. Annabeth’s fists clenched at her sides. 

It wasn’t fair. Percy had made his mistakes, but he deserved better. Annabeth was sure she could have somehow done more for him.

Someone touched her arm. She jerked away from them, startling Grover. His lower lip was still quivering and his eyes looked wet and glossy. 

“Come on, we’re going back to Camp.”

Right. Annabeth took one last glance at Percy’s pyre, now only a smear of ash on the marble pedestal, and left with her friends. Even Thalia, now a Hunter, looked pale and exhausted. 

“Annabeth Chase.”

She paused. Artemis was standing to the side. Though her face was neutral, Annabeth swore she saw a flicker of remorse in her eyes. 

“Yes, Lady Artemis?”  
  
“I would like to speak to you in private.”  
  
Thalia and Grover seemed surprised. Annabeth ignored them as she walked away with the goddess. They found a secluded grove with a marble bench curving in a semicircle around the center. Artemis stopped and turned to face Annabeth. 

“You’ve done well to show remarkable resilience and cunning, even when facing the most dire odds and terrible enemies.”  
  
Her silver eyes gleamed in the moonlight. “Annabeth, I’ve lost not only an ally, but two Hunters on this quest to free me. For that, I owe both of my fallen sisters a great debt.” That flicker of sadness came back, “I suppose I even owed a debt of gratitude to Percy after he held the sky in my stead and shattered my chains. But...”

She trailed off. Percy was gone, he could receive no reward for _holding the fucking sky._

Artemis continued, “But war now looms on the horizon, and I will need more Hunters.”  
  
Annabeth remained quiet as Artemis took her hands in her own. A cool wave of calm washed over Annabeth, a bit more awareness seeping back into her mind. She met the goddess’ eye. It was strange, being taller than a divine being. Artemis looked no older than twelve but her eyes conveyed thousands of years worth of wariness. 

“Seldom do I ever give a girl more than one chance to join me and my sisters-in-arms. But for you, for a girl of your skill, I will make this exception. I ask you again, Annabeth Chase, will you join my Hunt?”

Annabeth thought of Thalia, now a lieutenant, and how she had gone back to a liminal immortality. Before as a tree, now as a Hunter. She thought of how Thalia was free from the limitations of one place, free to roam. Free to fight.

She thought of how she had watched Thalia die on Half-Blood Hill. Annabeth could do nothing then, and she had done nothing now as she watched Percy die with fear and panic in his final words. 

Hubris was a terrible thing. It made Annabeth want to tear down Olympus with her bare hands. She swallowed and took a deep breath. Never again would she let someone close to her get hurt. She would be stronger next time. Faster, smarter, unerring. 

She promised Percy, _Never again._

* * *

As his son’s pyre burned, Poseidon did not like the feeling of his brother’s eyes on him. Though Hades had apparently donned his Helm of Darkness, Poseidon knew his brother well enough to recognize the familiar feeling of eyes watching him from the shadows. If something about Percy’s death had upset Hades, then there was most certainly something to fear.

Out of habit, Poseidon stretched his senses as far as he could reach. Only a fragment of his divine being remained in the form of a human man as the rest of him reached with both the Atlantic and Pacific. With all the waters in between. And with his grasp spread over the whole of America, he tried to find a response to his power. 

Poseidon was a great, vast ocean. Always churning and always brewing with an oncoming storm. But when he reached out with all his strength, there was no budding sea, no storm in human form that responded. 

His son was still gone. 

He glanced to the side, watching as the satyr and Athena’s girl quietly cried. Zeus’ daughter, now alight with Artemis’ silver blessing, stared on with a sort of stoic quiet. All of them were so young. 

When Percy’s pyre died down and all that remained was ash, Poseidon stepped forward and waved his hand. He uttered an ancient incantation, a blessing that sent the ashes flowing in the wind. Down below, the waters of New York’s rivers became a bit cleaner and a bit more blue. 

Whatever game Hades was playing, if he did not allow Percy to enter Elysium, Poseidon would flood the Underworld with his rage. 

Poseidon continued to linger by the edge of Olympus, staring at the sprawling city of New York while he lost himself to his thoughts. It wasn’t until the approaching footsteps stopped next to him did he bother to pull himself away from the sight before him. It was Hades, the shadows unwrapping from his form as he removed his helm. 

“Brother,” Poseidon greeted with the slightest inclination of his head. 

“Poseidon.”

“What do you want?”  
  
Though Poseidon was known for his brooding nature, Hades also had his own severe look. Resting bitch face, if Poseidon was accurate in his modern languages. 

Hades said, “Your son died a rather strange death, didn’t he?”  
  
The entire Northeastern coast of the Atlantic swelled and thrashed against the shores. 

Hades rolled his eyes. “Peace, Poseidon. I mean no ill will.”

“Then why are you here?”

Hades didn’t immediately answer. Beneath his exterior, Poseidon could see how the shadows shifted in Hades’ eyes. Something was upsetting him. 

“I do not think your son is fully dead.”

The roiling Atlantic suddenly went still, as if holding its breath. 

“Hades, if this is some trick-”

“I mean it, Poseidon. Your son is gone, but he is not in the Underworld. He’s…” Hades hesitated, “... elsewhere.”

Clouds began to gather over the Atlantic and the city, blotting out the moon and stars. Poseidon was not lord of skies, but he was indeed master of storms. He could swell Hades’ realm to its breaking point with his floods and droughts. Or even shake the Underworld with his earthquakes. 

“Perseus was a noble hero,” Hades said, ignoring the gathering storm, “he returned my Helm to me when it was stolen, though he was a bit petulant when he referred to me in my own realm only as his Uncle.”

Poseidon was quiet, waiting. The storm gathering was also halted. 

Hades stared at the sight of the storm hanging over New York. “The grace and callousness of the sea in one. Not unlike someone else I know.”

He spoke without looking at Poseidon. “I only tell you this because, though I’m loath to admit it, I owe my nephew a debt for his efforts. Whatever becomes of Percy after tonight, I might just consider-”

They both faltered. 

The brewing storm dissipated and the tense, still Atlantic returned to its usual state. Poseidon and Hades shared a look. 

That couldn’t be. Poseidon reached out with his senses, grasping across the land until he found it. His son. His Perseus.

His little sea was alive. 

Without waiting for Hades’ confirmation, Poseidon abandoned Olympus. Transporting himself to the mortal world below, he descended as a sheet of rain until he manifested himself within Sally’s apartment. Heart beating, racing, _aching,_ he stumbled through the darkened hallway until he came across the only open door. He froze in the doorway. 

Sally was there. And so was Percy. Poseidon drank in the sight of his son. Though Percy was still pale and his hair white from the stress of the sky, he looked entirely human. And that worried Poseidon more than anything else. For the past several years, Percy’s condition had always been incredibly unstable, his power often flaring beyond his control. Now, Percy looked almost _too_ human. 

_“Dad?”_

Percy and his mother stood, Sally clutching his arm as if to shield him from Poseidon. 

Percy was definitely different, though only someone close to him would be able to tell. He was just a bit taller than before. A little more lithe and lean. Only slightly older looking. No fangs. His eyes were now very much like Poseidon’s own, human but with irises constantly shifting between shades of green. He had a powerful aura around him. 

He looked like a minor god. 

Poseidon stepped forward. “Percy, how are you alive?”

Sally had tears running down her face as she stepped between them.

“Poseidon?”  
  
Names had power. No doubt if Hades’ hadn’t already told them, the other Olympians would notice Poseidon’s presence on earth now. 

He took a step closer. Sally’s grip on their son’s arm tightened. 

“Please don’t take him away.”

Poseidon faltered. He hated the sight of the woman he loved begging for his mercy. He looked to his son, who stared at him with the same indecipherable, brooding look Poseidon was often known for.

“I’m not here to hurt you, Percy. I’m here because-”  
  
“Because I should be dead?” Percy asked.

Sally went rigid. Her eyes darted to the crossbow laying on the nearby desk.

Poseidon pitied his son. “Because I wanted to believe you were alive.”

Thunder clapped overhead. Poseidon quietly cursed his brother, he just needed more time to understand how this was all possible. 

“Percy, the other gods will not tolerate the fact that you have, without our intervention, returned from the dead.”

“What will they do to him?” Sally asked, not moving from her space between them. 

“I swear on the Styx that Percy will have my full protection,” Poseidon said. Thunder rumbled in the distance, not Zeus’ power but that of the ancient river. 

Some of the tension seeped from Sally’s shoulders, but she still didn’t look very happy. 

“Mom?” Percy took a step away from her. “Mom, it’ll be alright. I- I promise.”

That was a very dangerous promise to make. Poseidon was about to speak up when there was a knock at the door. He knew who it was. 

“Hermes.”

The messenger god appeared in the room with them, dressed in his mail uniform. He stared at Percy with wide eyes, gawking at him as if he were an exotic animal. 

“Percy? You’re alive?”

At least he wasn’t disgusted or angered by Percy’s existence. Poseidon asked, “Hermes, why are you here?”  
  
The other god kept his gaze fixed on Percy. “You’ve been summoned to Olympus, posthaste if I might add.”

 _“Percy,”_ Sally’s voice came out in a strained whisper. 

He hugged her, whispering something Poseidon chose not to hear. She nodded her head and pressed a kiss to their son’s forehead. 

“Okay, but as soon as you can, you call me. You understand?”

Percy nodded. “Yeah, Mom. Of course”

Hermes had an unreadable expression on his face. Something like fondness tinged by grief. He held his hand out, as if to shake Percy’s. 

“Come on, now. Best to never make family wait.”

Percy glanced to Poseidon, who nodded. Then Percy took Hermes’ hand and they disappeared in a flash of light. Sally, thank her good judgement, had enough sense to avert her eyes as they left. 

Now it was just the two of them. 

“Don’t you also have to go?” Sally asked. 

She seemed so tired. Poseidon yearned to sit with her. To lay in bed with her for just one more night. 

Instead, he said, “I do. I’ll protect him, Sally. I swore it.”

She nodded, despite the wetness in her eyes. “Good. You better, or so help me Poseidon, you’ll have to answer to me.”

He could not imagine a more terrible fate. Poseidon nodded. In a flash of his own light, he was gone. 

* * *

Artemis’ chariot touched down on Half-Blood Hill. It was late at night now, though the lights in the Big House were still on. Annabeth stood at the crest of the hill and stared down at camp. She couldn’t believe that in the last twenty-four hours, she completed their quest, rescued Artemis, watched Percy die on Olympus, and then burnt his funeral pyre. And now she was here. 

The cold winter air bothered her just a tiny bit less than it usually would have. 

“We leave at dawn,” Artemis said, “but before that, I’d like for you three to come with me to discuss recent events with Chiron.”

So they followed the goddess down the lightly snowy path to the Big House. Every few seconds, Annabeth kept glancing at Thalia, unused to the slight silver glow around her now. And it was even more noticeable in the dark of camp than on Olympus. Once or twice, Annabeth thought she saw Thalia glancing at her too. When they reached the Big House, they found Chiron sitting by the fire. He looked relieved to see them, eyes flitting toward Artemis. Then Annabeth watched as he became saddened by news he already suspected.  
  
“Artemis, where are your Hunters? And what of Percy?”

“Zoë and Bianca are both gone,” Thalia said, “I’m Artemis’ new lieutenant now.”

“Ah,” Chiron said, as if there was nothing more to say. “I hope you fare well with the Hunters, Thalia. I believe you will make a remarkable lieutenant.”

His eyes shifted to Grover and Annabeth. He seemed exhausted and Annabeth thought there was even the slightest hint of mourning in his eyes. 

“And you, Annabeth. You seem to have also made a decision.”  
  
For half her life, Chiron was the closest thing to a father to her. Annabeth nodded, jaw clenched tight so she wouldn’t cry.

“Percy is also gone,” Grover said. A part of Annabeth wondered if he read her emotions and said it for her. 

Chiron shifted in his wheelchair, his grip on the armrests becoming just a bit tighter. 

“I see.”

“Chiron, I ask that my Hunters are allowed to stay until morning,” Artemis said. 

“Of course, my lady. Now, the rest of you ought to get some rest. You’ve no doubt had a difficult quest.”

Annabeth felt a gentle pull on her jacket. It was Grover, urging her along. As the four of them filtered out of the Big House, Annabeth glanced over her shoulder. Chiron was staring into the fireplace, hands folded in his lap and with a distant look in his eyes.

On the porch, Annabeth walked right into Thalia. She grunted softly, peering past Thalia at whatever stopped them. It was Hermes, standing a few yards away and talking in hushed tones to Artemis. 

“What’s going on?” Annabeth asked. 

“No idea,” Thalia replied. 

Whatever Hermes wanted, he was gone just as fast as he had come. Artemis approached them, clearly upset and agitated as her eyes darted between them.

“I must return to Olympus for an emergency reconvening. Rest for the night without me.”

“Will you be back by morning?” Thalia asked. 

Artemis’ frown deepened. “I’m sorry Thalia, but I don’t know. Olympus rarely ever calls emergency meetings, though I hope it’s something that can be resolved quickly.”

With that, Artemis was gone in a flash of silver light. 

Now that the three of them were alone, Annabeth recalled what Percy told her before he died. The Ophiotaurus was alive and apparently dwelling off the shore of camp. And for some reason, Percy wanted it hidden. 

“So what now?” Grover asked. 

Thalia shook her head. “I’m showering and going to bed in my old cabin. I don’t think I can confront the other Hunters right now.” 

“Right,” Annabeth said. “Then I’ll see you in the morning, Thalia.”

The girl who was basically her sister nodded and began walking away. And even though she was bathed in silver light, the grace of her newfound immortality couldn’t conceal the slump in her shoulders. 

Before Grover could walk off, Annabeth grabbed his arm.  
  
“We need to talk.”  
  
He must have read her face, because Grover swallowed and nodded. Not letting go, Annabeth pulled him along until they reached the shoreline. The hellhounds- _Percy’s_ hellhounds- were quiet tonight. She had no idea if they had been killed off by now, but she could feel the sensation of eyes watching her. 

“A-annabeth?”  
  
She stopped right at the magic border. The slight slope below them gave way to sand and sea. Even though there wasn’t much light, Annabeth scanned the water. All she could see were waves and white froth. 

“What are we doing here?”

“While we were on Olympus, Percy told me that the Ophiotaurus was alive.”  
  
Grover’s eyes widened. _“The_ Ophiotaurus? The one that can destroy Olympus-”  
  
“-if it’s entrails are burnt? Yeah, that one.” Annabeth finished. 

Grover ran a hand over his face. “Th-that’s crazy. How can it be back after so long?”  
  
A faint memory stirred in Annabeth’s mind.  
  
“Back in Maine, didn’t Artemis say she was encountering monsters she hadn’t seen for thousands of years?”

“I think? But we have to do something, Annabeth. If Luke’s side gets the Ophiotaurus, they’ll have the power to beat the gods.”

Annabeth’s blood froze. She remembered the prophecy the Oracle issued before their quest. 

_The bane of Olympus shows the trail…_

But the Ophiotaurus had been here all along. Right outside of camp. 

Annabeth’s eyes widened. Oh, gods. 

Her legs crumpled beneath her and she sat down hard on the crest of the hill. Grover knelt next to her.  
  
“Annabeth?”  
  
Her mind was racing, thoughts spilling over each other without any restraint. 

Grover asked, “How do you think Percy knew about the Ophiotaurus?”  
  
“I have no idea. But that isn’t what’s bothering me.”  
  
The gears in Annabeth’s head were whirring at top speed as she squeezed her eyes shut and thought hard. On their quest, she defeated the Nemean Lion by thinking like Percy, and followed the trail of something powerful dwelling in the west. The whole time, Annabeth assumed it was Kronos, and later Atlas. 

“Annabeth? Come on, talk to me. _Please.”_

Two hands squeezed her shoulders. She sucked in a deep breath and opened her eyes. She grabbed Grover by the sleeves of his jacket. 

“Grover, the Ophiotaurus is _a_ bane, but it wasn’t _ours._ Now whatever happens, promise me that you’ll try to find the Ophiotaurus and keep it safe.”

He nodded, “Of course I will.”

“Good.” 

She pulled Grover into a hug as the wall inside of her came crumbling down. The unending days of constantly fighting for her life, of evading Atlas’ army, of watching three friends die, they all came crashing down on her. 

Grover hugged her back, squeezing her tight as she cried. 

It wasn’t fair. What happened to any of them wasn’t fair. Not to Bianca. Not to Zoë. Least of all to Percy. 

Annabeth wasn’t sure how long she sat by the beach, crying a growing wet spot into Grover’s jacket until she exhausted herself. But when her tears dried and she didn’t think she’d be able to scream or cry anymore, she forced herself to her feet. 

She’d hunt every last monster in Luke’s army. Every single one of them. 

But for now, there was only one last thing she had to do. 

In the morning, she was going to have to confront Nico di Angelo. 

* * *

Alive for only a few minutes after learning he was the hybrid creation of the most ancient being in the universe, Percy’s life was already a shit show. Figures. 

The Olympians had been reconvened for a second meeting, and now where vehemently arguing over what to do with Percy. Poseidon was keeping his word, shouting that no one would hurt him. Artemis had also taken his side, which Percy was beyond grateful for. He was afraid she might turn on him after watching his humanity chip away while he was trapped under the sky, but it seemed that Artemis wanted him _rewarded_ for his efforts now that he was alive again. 

By extension, Apollo allied with his sister. Hermes also argued for Percy to be allowed to keep his life, which made him feel a twinge of guilt. Last summer, Hermes had asked Percy to try and convince Luke to abandon the war. Percy had failed. Now, Luke was either dead or being healed by his monsters. He was honestly surprised Hermes didn’t hate his guts. 

But the rest of the gods were a mix of painfully neutral or downright thirsty for blood. Percy’s blood, precisely. 

“I told you he was an abomination!” Zeus shouted, “Now look at him! Back from the dead, and likely without any aid from Hades.”

“It _is_ strange that Jackson managed to evade Thanatos,” Hades commented. His eyes were expressionless, pulling a perfect poker face as his family debated over Percy’s fate. 

Then he added, “If I may play devil’s advocate, so to speak, perhaps we should consider this a sign that Percy is meant to be alive and call it a day. Or night.”

Zeus glared at Hades. The death god seemed unbothered. “I’m just saying, who are we to question the fates?”  
  
Percy didn’t know what kind of game Hades was playing, and almost didn’t want to. 

“Why are we still debating this? We should send him straight to Hades’ realm and put him in the fields of punishment for evading death,” Athena said, “Is that not what we did with Sisyphus?”

“I think the runt would be better served being cast someplace even lower,” Ares said. Maybe he was still salty about Percy’s win over him, “Let’s toss him into the pit.”

Poseidon roared, standing as his form momentarily rippled. For a second, his ordinary mortal clothes turned into full Greek armor. Ares said nothing in reply. 

The fighting continued. Percy shifted his weight from foot to foot.

“Oh Perseus, you look tired. Why don’t you sit with me?”  
  
For the first time, he noticed the young girl sitting on a wooden stool by the hearth in the center of the room. The girl snapped her fingers and a second seat appeared. Figuring it was better than standing around, Percy accepted the offer. Looking more closely, he realized that he recognized the girl from camp. She was always tending to the hearth in the center of the cabins. _Always._

“Hestia?”

She smiled at him. She was in a simple brown dress and a white shawl draped over her shoulders. Completely unassuming in a room full of more extravagant gods. 

Percy asked, “Have you always been at camp?”  
  
Her smile widened. “Oh, I come and go. Not many notice me anyways, but I do like to check on you children when I can. For many of you, Camp Half-Blood is your only true home.”

Percy wondered why she was here, but not participating in the argument. He began to bounce one leg, unable to keep still. 

“So, uh… what do you think about me?”

Hestia sighed. “Though I am a goddess, I no longer sit on the Olympian council.” 

She prodded the flames with a metal rod, causing the hearth to flare up.  
  
“But I do think you deserve better, Percy. You’ve had a difficult time finding a place that feels like home. And now, you have a second chance at that.”

He found himself smiling faintly, Hestia’s presence a comforting warmth. 

“Thank you.”

Hestia smiled back. “Though I’m surprised you’re taking the debate over your life so easily. Are you truly not afraid?”

Well, Percy has died before, usually in instances where he was alone. He was scared of the future he saw where he stayed dead, so he supposed he had something to fear. But honestly?  
  
“I don’t know. I’m just tired of all the fighting.”

“Aren’t we all?” Hestia’s eyes gleamed with all the colors of a warm campfire. 

“Enough of this!” Zeus’ voice boomed, cutting off their conversation, “All those in favor of sending the boy to the Underworld?”

Zeus, Athena, and Ares were the first to raise their hands, followed by Dionysus, Demeter and Hera. Six. Which meant the vote might tie. Zeus also seemed to notice this. 

“All in favor of letting him live?”

Poseidon, Artemis, Apollo, Hermes, and Hades raised their hands. _Five?_

Percy’s stomach plummeted. Zeus reclined in his seat, a smug smile stretching across his face. Percy thought he was mince meat, and he was willing to bet the gods would be even less happy to see him back from the dead _again,_ when Poseidon spoke up.

“Wait, two of us have not yet voted.”

All attention turned to a brutish man in a leather reclining chair and to the most beautiful lady Percy had ever seen. She sat on a golden chair cushioned with red velvet, indecision laced in her ever-changing eyes. 

“Hephaestus? Aphrodite?” Zeus asked, “Are you both abstaining?”

The god of forges frowned. “I see the danger he poses, but I bear no ill will against the boy myself.”

Aphrodite pouted and laced her hands in her lap. “Oh, I don’t know. On one hand, his love life is in utter shambles. Never before have a seen a young hero with so little hope at finding love-”

Percy consoled himself with the knowledge that his mom would always love him. 

“-but on the other hand, he has such wonderful potential. Maybe as part of a tragic love story? Or maybe having his heart broken by one of my children? I think he could possibly be salvaged.”  
  
 _Maybe love isn’t worth it after all,_ Percy thought. 

Zeus grumbled something under his breath. “Well regardless, the opinion of the council is clear. Perseus Jackson will be sentenced to death.”

Poseidon stood, trident in hand as his battle armor returned. He banged his signature weapon against the floor. “I refuse these results! No one here will hurt my son!”

Percy winced from the ringing of a bronze trident against the marble floor. It looked like he was about to stir up a civil war on his way down to the fields, too. Then he caught Hestia’s eye. Her hands were curled in her lap and she was biting her lip. When Percy met her gaze, she took a deep breath before standing and raising her hand. 

“Everyone! I vote to keep Percy alive.”

The entire council stirred. Zeus leaned forward in his throne. 

“Hestia, you are no longer part of the council. Your vote is invalid.”

For a goddess taking the form of a ten-year-old girl, Hestia didn’t waver. 

“But am I not the goddess of family? How can I sit idly by as my nephew is sentenced to death? Besides, I _am_ your older sister, and I’d like to think my judgement holds some merit here.” 

Percy didn’t really have any siblings to pull the older-than-you card on, but it seemed to irk Zeus. Or at least make him hesitate. 

From the side, Aphrodite cooed, “Oh, how heartwarming! Maybe young Percy isn’t beyond hope just yet.”

Zeus stared at her in disbelief. The storm brewing in Poseidon’s eyes quelled.

Poseidon asked, “You’re voting in his favor?”  
  
Aphrodite nodded. “Yes, I think so.”

Zeus immediately looked to Hephaestus, maybe searching for a tie. Instead of answering immediately, Hephaestus sat back in his chair and stroked his beard. “I know too well how cruel family can be to each other. I will also vote to keep him alive.”

Zeus’ eyes crackled with lightning. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

 _“Fine._ By popular vote, the boy gets to live.”

Alive by the skin of his teeth yet again. Percy wasn’t sure if he was happy or just relieved it was over now. He shot Hestia a thankful smile and made a promise to himself that he’d burn a whole plate of food in offering to her. She smiled back just as Poseidon approached them. He grabbed Percy by the arm and hurried him out of the throne room. 

“Hey- dad!”

“Quiet, Percy. Come with me.”

They wandered through the marble halls of the central palace until they came to an ornate set of double doors. They shined like polished abalone, carved with images of the sea, with hinges and handles made of silver. Poseidon waved his hand and the doors opened. 

Percy gaped as he was hurried into a massive foyer. Two sets of spiraling staircases led to the floor above and the room split off into three others in front of him. Marble columns, walls that shimmered and shifted between hues of blue, and a massive pearl-studded chandelier decorated the chamber. 

“Is this your home on Olympus?”  
  
Poseidon nodded. His image flickered and his armor evaporated. Without it, he looked much more human, with crows feet and some gray in his beard. He put his hands on Percy’s shoulders and said, “Percy, you must understand how close you were to death.”

“I know.”  
  
“The Olympians not in your favor may prove to be your greatest enemies yet.”

“I know, dad.”

Poseidon still seemed troubled. “Promise me you’ll at least _try_ to keep out of trouble.”

“Okay, dad. I promise,” he said, though they both knew how bad he was at following directions.

Poseidon sighed in relief. Then he did something Percy didn’t expect. He brushed the snow white hair from Percy’s face. 

“You’ve already suffered so much, and I’m sorry that you may have to endure even more. I don’t know what happened to you or why Percy, but know that you are still my son.”

Percy sucked in a breath. He realized that Poseidon had no idea about his lineage, or what he really was. 

Poseidon studied him. “If you want, I can take you back to your mother. I can imagine she’s very worried for you.”

Percy nodded. “Please.”

He felt bone tired, unable to remember the last time he was able to rest. So in a flash of light, Poseidon returned him to his mom’s apartment. 

* * *

Percy woke up early in the morning, before the sky was fully blue, to a warm bed and gentle music filtering through the halls. He sat up and realized that it wasn’t a dream. He was really here. Alive and home with his mother. 

He couldn’t resist smiling as he threw on some fresh clothes and emerged from his bedroom. He found his mom in the kitchen, humming along to the music playing as she set a fresh plate of blueberry pancakes on the kitchen table.

She smiled at him. “Goodmorning, Percy. Did you sleep well?”  
  
Percy laughed as he sat at the table. “You have no idea.”

His mom sat across from him with her own plate of pancakes. “Whenever you’re ready, I can drive you back to camp.”  
  
Percy nodded, his mouth already stuffed with pancakes. Even though he wanted nothing less than to spend an eternity home, he still had to go back to camp. He wasn’t sure if Grover, Annabeth, and Chiron had been told he was alive again, and that didn’t seem like the kind of thing to put off. 

But for now, there was a light flurry of snow outside and their kitchen felt so cozy. And his mom looked happier than ever to have him home.

* * *

Nico woke up early in the morning, before the sky was fully blue, to a lot of commotion. He jerked awake as something soft hit the foot of his bed.

“Come on, di Angelo. The questers are back!” It was one of the Stoll brothers, though Nico had no idea which.  
  
He gasped and sat up in bed, already grinning. Bianca was back! 

He tossed aside the pillow thrown at him and hurried to get dressed. He was out the door before he even got his winter jacket on, struggling to pull his arms through the sleeves as he hurried to the Hunter’s cabin. 

Bianca was back, and he was finally going to prove his stupid nightmares wrong. 

Just in time, too. The doors to the silver cabin opened and the Hunters began filing out. They carried quivers and duffle bags on their backs, all dressed in the same silver parkas. Nico waited a distance away, knowing some of the meaner girls wouldn’t hesitate to try shooting at him. 

The last girl came out, but it wasn’t Bianca. Nico’s smile faded as he scanned the small crowd. He barely noticed when two more girls joined the group. He registered that the scary girl with spiky black hair and lightning powers was in the same silver coat as the Hunters, but he wanted to know where his sister was. He didn’t even notice at first when another girl began approaching him. 

He blinked. It was Annabeth. 

Her hair was braided over her shoulder and her gray eyes looked more like smooth steel now. She had a dagger strapped to her side, but unlike the other girls, Annabeth was wearing what looked like a golden fur coat. 

“Hey, Annabeth! Do you know where my sister is?”  
  
She didn’t smile back at him. 

“Hey, Nico. Why don’t we take a walk?”

His stomach sank. “Oh. Um, okay.”

He followed her away from the cabins and closer to the edge of the woods. Once they were alone, Annabeth stopped. Nico began toying with the hems of his jacket. 

“So… where’s Bianca? Was she hurt?”  
  
His nightmares couldn’t be true. Bianca was strong and brave. She had to be fine.

Annabeth studied him carefully with her harsh, gray eyes. 

“Nico, I’m really sorry. I know I promised to keep her safe but…” Annabeth took a shaky breath, “Your sister is gone.”

Nico felt the wind being knocked out of him. He froze. Unblinking, unbreathing. A bitter wind bit at his face and neck. 

“What?”

Annabeth looked so much like a Hunter. Cold and powerful. “Look, Nico. There was this bronze giant a-and, well Bianca chose to stop it herself. She chose to be a hero. She-”

_“Liar.”_

Annabeth flinched. Nico’s voice scared even him. It came out as a raspy hiss like a snake. 

“Nico, please understand. Bianca-”  
  
“Don’t you dare say her name!”  
  
Nico squeezed his eyes shut as he clutched his head. His nightmares of Bianca in a bronze monster, and of her in a shadowy gray robe… 

Bianca entering the endless fields of Asphodel… 

“You swore you’d keep her safe! She’s dead because of you!”

Annabeth took a step back as Nico screamed. All around him, countless disembodied voices whispered to him. Hissing curses and being roused by his anguish. 

_Kill her in return, my lord._

_Let her feel your wrath._

_Make her suffer._

_Make her pay._

“Nico-”  
  
 _“Shut up!”_

He stomped his foot and the earth trembled. A massive crack in the ground stretched toward Annabeth, widening like a gaping maw. She jumped out of the way, stumbling back as the crack spread like vines over the earth. She now had her back to camp, while Nico had his to the woods. 

“Nico, please-”

No. He wasn’t staying here anymore.

He turned his back on Annabeth and ran into the woods, tears streaming down his face. Annabeth called after him, but he ignored her. All around him, the shadows bent and warped around him. They clung to his clothes and skin and before Nico knew it, he was engulfed in darkness. 

* * *

When they arrived at Camp Half-Blood, Percy thought it was odd when his mom stopped the car. Maybe she wanted to walk him up the hill?

“Mom, is everything okay?”

She nodded, even though her tight grip on the steering wheel made Percy think otherwise. Still, when he got out of the car, she followed. At the top of the hill, just outside the magic border, his mom stopped. 

“Percy, is there a way you could let me inside the camp?”  
  
“Why? Is something wrong?”  
  
She shook her head. “No, no. I just want to ask Chiron something.”  
  
Percy bit his lower lip. “Um, alright. I, Percy Jackson, give you permission to enter Camp Half-Blood.”

His mom reached out and waved her hand through the air. It was like the border wasn’t there at all. She smiled faintly. 

“Thank you, Percy.”  
  
He nodded and stuffed his hands in his pockets. He guided his mom through the camp, wondering if this was her first time ever actually inside it. She kept close to him and Percy couldn’t tell if she was overwhelmed or wanted to keep him near her.

Percy touched her arm to get her attention before pointing down the hill. “Those there are the cabins where we sleep, and over there is the arena.”

“Arena?”  
  
“For sword training and sports.”

“Ah.”

Her eyes drifted over the whole of camp, drinking it all in the way Percy did when he first arrived.

“Is that climbing wall _on fire?”_  
  
“No, it’s spewing lava.”

Though on second thought, maybe Percy shouldn’t have told her that. His mom quickly looked away.

“And there?”

She pointed to where a few paths led into the forest. Percy could see a few kids in armor and some satyrs darting between the trees. 

“The woods are stocked for monsters for us to fight, if we want.”

She chewed on her lower lip. “Do they ever come into the camp?”

Percy hadn’t actually thought of that before.  
  
“No, actually.”

He showed his mom other sights, including the archery range and the lake, as they made their way to the Big House. Sitting on the porch were Mr. D and Chiron, playing cards while music drifted from a radio. 

Mr. D noticed them approaching first. He said something Percy didn’t hear and got up, leaving the table. Chiron watched as Percy and his mom climbed the steps to the Big House. He didn’t look surprised to see them, so Percy figured one of the gods told him.

“Percy, my boy. You have no idea how good it is to see you.”

“Thanks, Chiron.”

Chiron wheeled himself around the table while refusing to break eye contact. He very pointedly stared at Percy as he said, “The gods rarely ever gift a mortal with a second chance at life.”  
  
“Huh- _oh.”_

Chiron gave him a knowing look. So he’d been tipped off that Percy’s circumstances were even less normal for a demigod. 

“Second chance at life, right.” Percy repeated. 

He couldn’t take Chiron’s stare and let his gaze wander across camp. He thought he saw the Stolls at some point, trekking near the border of the woods. 

“So where’s Grover and Annabeth? And is Thalia still here, or is she with the Hunters now?”

Chiron drummed his fingers against the armrest of his wheelchair. “Artemis and her Hunters left earlier in the morning. But Percy-”

_“P-p-percy!”_

He wheeled around at the sound of a familiar goat bleat. Grover tackled him in a hug and they nearly went tumbling to the floor. 

“Grover!”  
  
Percy buried his face in his best friend’s jacket and laughed. It felt so good to be back. 

“Chiron got a message from Hermes. He said- well, I almost didn't believe him.”

Grover pulled away and he actually looked happy to see Percy. His eyes darted over Percy’s form.

“You uh, you look good. Much better than being a ghost.”

“Yeah, I think I like being alive,” Percy said as he ran a hand through his hair, still not used to his pure white bangs.

Then he remembered his mom and Chiron. She was smiling in a way that almost seemed like she was about to cry. 

She said, “Why don’t you two catch up? I’d just like to have a quick word with Chiron.”  
  
“Are you sure?”  
  
She nodded.

“Alright, then.” Percy turned to Grover. “So where’s Annabeth?”

* * *

The ocean raged as the waves threw themselves against the shore. 

“She’s _gone?”_ he asked, “She joined the Hunters?”  
  
Grover put a hand on his shoulder. Just yards away from their secluded spot, the ocean was an ugly shade of grayish blue. 

“Look, Percy. I kind of get why she did it. I think she was already considering it for a long time. And when she agreed, she thought you were gone. Thalia had already joined the Hunt, so she…”  
  
Grover hesitated. 

“She _what?”_

“I think she just didn’t want to be alone. And you know how she is. Annabeth has always wanted to test herself in the real world. Now she gets to do that forever.”

“But… buy why?”

Percy wanted to not feel betrayed. He really did. He wanted to feel happy that Annabeth was now immortal and free from the constraints of staying in camp forever. But he hadn't even been able to say goodbye. And did she even know he was alive again? 

He did tell her that he had died before. Just never with as much uncertainty as this time. 

“You could try sending her an Iris message,” Grover said.

Percy hummed low in his throat. He shrugged Grover’s hand off his shoulder and made the decision that he wanted to be alone. 

“If my mom starts looking for me, tell her I went for a swim.”  
  
Without waiting for Grover’s response, Percy stormed down the beach and began wading into the water. 

“Percy!”

Grover’s voice faded away as Percy became fully submerged. 

He walked a few dozen yards away from the shore before finding a rocky outcrop to sit at, knees pressed to his chest and arms wrapped around his legs. He felt like screaming. 

Could he and Annabeth even be friends now? 

He still felt like he had amends to make. As Percy felt an underwater current wash over him, a new thought came to him. For this entire time, had Percy only been holding her back? Did she only stay his friend because she felt obligated to?

He remembered their trip to the Sea of Monsters. On Circe’s island, she had offered Annabeth a place among her sorcerers. And Annabeth rejected it to save Percy. The Hunters were a powerful group, headed by an actual goddess. Again, Percy wanted to be happy for her. Annabeth might’ve been better off without him, but she was still the smartest person Percy knew. He would have really appreciated her help in not ending the fucking world. 

Percy pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes, not wanting to cry. 

He groaned as a shadow fell over him. He hoped it was a sea monster because he was itching for a fight. 

Instead, he heard a gentle, “Moo?”

He looked up. A massive creature with the back end of an eel and the front half of a baby cow curled around him. The creature was thin, maybe from not eating enough. Its big, brown eyes were possibly the cutest thing Percy had ever seen.

“Hey, there.”

Percy held out his hand and the Ophiotaurus nuzzled his palm. 

“Have you been looking for me?”

The creature nodded. “Moo.”

Percy snorted and scratched the Ophiotaurus behind its ear. 

“Yeah, I’ve been having a tough time too.”  
  
He wondered if the Ophiotaurus had been alone this entire time as it searched for him. 

“But it’s gonna be alright. I won’t let anyone hurt you."

The Ophiotaurus lowed gently, nuzzling Percy’s neck with its warm snout. 

_At last,_ it seemed to be saying. _Thank you._

* * *

When Percy emerged from the ocean, his mom and Chiron were waiting for him. 

Chiron asked, “So you know about Annabeth, yes?”  
  
Percy nodded. “Oh, Percy,” Mom said, “it’ll be alright.”

Percy lowered his gaze and nodded. “I know.”

He didn’t really believe it, but he said it to make her happy. The world felt muted to him as the three of them walked through camp. It was like not even the wind wanted anything to do with him.  
  
As they travelled up the snowy path to Half-Blood Hill, his mom said, “I do have some good news. Chiron has agreed to teach me archery.”

Percy did a double take. He gaped at his mom. _“You?_ Archery?”

“Oh, don’t seem so surprised. It’s good to know how to protect yourself, right Chiron?”  
  
Chiron trotted alongside them as he stroked his beard. “Yes, indeed. Your mother was also quite insistent.”

Percy wondered what battle of wills happened while he was gone. And he ultimately decided it was not any of his business. He walked with his mom to the top of Half-Blood Hill and hugged her goodbye. 

“No more running away now. If you ever need somewhere to go, you come to me. Understand?”

He nodded, noticing the lock of pure white hair tucked behind her ear. He honestly couldn’t tell if she was taking the news of his lineage really well, or was really good at hiding it.

He said, “I know. I promise, mom. And drive safe.”

She smiled and kissed the top of his head, even though he was the same height as her now. Percy watched as she walked down the hill to her car and drove away. 

* * *

Percy didn’t have it in him to do much that day other than sulk in his cabin. The only thing he came out for was the call for dinner. With the sun hanging low in the winter sky, he sat alone at his table like he always did. He piled his plate with seasoned potatoes and rare steak, thinking nothing of the many people staring at him. He didn’t care about whatever anyone was saying about him. 

Percy cut into his steak and took his first bite. The flavor and the heat washed over his tongue, but it was different. 

As Percy ate, he realized how hungry he was. It wasn’t the unending hunger he assumed was from Chaos’ constant decay or entropy. It was a human hunger. As Percy ate, he felt _full_ and it was such a relief he almost felt like crying. He’d almost forgotten what it felt like to eat and to not still be hungry. 

He wondered what else changed with his new body. Chaos called it a second skin, but it felt so much more real to Percy. It felt amazing. 

After dinner, as he walked back to his cabin, the only thing that could have lifted his spirits higher were the comforting sound of hellhound howls. Percy scanned the sky, and thought that they had only a half hour of faint light left before night settled in. A part of him didn’t want to wait. 

He was already at the tail end of the group heading back to the cabins. Without saying anything, Percy split from the group and began heading for the woods. Walking deep enough to stay out of sight, Percy walked the perimeter of the woods until he found the beach. The magic border was always just a bit more fickle here. 

He stood at the edge of the woods where the dirt was just starting to give way to sand. Then he raised two fingers to his mouth and whistled. 

He waited. Percy remembered his visions of his pack pawing at the border, trying to get in. He hoped they were fine, he’d seen what the Hunters of Artemis could do.

Percy sat by the edge of the beach and continued waiting. He didn’t want to whistle again, just in case a nearby nymph heard him, when he was rewarded by a faint howl in the distance. It could almost be mistaken for wind if Percy wasn’t paying attention.

A second later, a massive black blur the size of an SUV leaped from the shadows. Onyx, the biggest of his hellhounds, paced in front Percy with a slight limp in his back leg. A handful of other hellhounds followed. Percy saw Andrea, the second biggest, along with a few more. Some of the hellhounds had markers to tell them apart, like the patch of grayish fur on Theo’s front leg and the pale, bald scar near Cass’ neck. And he’d recognize the smallest of his pack, Ruby, any day. 

Percy waited, but no one else came. His heart sank. He bit back the urge to curse the Hunters. But for now, he just wanted his pack. Or what was left of it.

“Hey guys, it’s me. I’m back,” he said, lowering his voice. 

Percy stepped forward, the safety of the border behind him now. Onyx raised his head to sniff the air. A low growl escaped his throat. Percy frowned. 

They recognized him, didn’t they?

Ruby let out a whine and eased closer. Onyx snapped at her. 

“Hey! What’s wrong with you guys?” Percy asked. 

The hellhounds probably liked him because he smelled like them. Like a wild monster. Percy looked down at himself and wondered how to summon his powers now that he no longer had waves of dread constantly flowing from him. Was it like summoning water?  
  
He tried to feel within himself to bring out his less human side. Percy took a deep breath and exhaled. He watched as the air rippled before dispersing. He felt a twinge of pain in his mouth and when he ran his tongue along the roof of it, he felt his old fangs sliding into place. 

He flashed his pack a smile. 

Immediately, Ruby bounded forward and tackled him. She was no bigger than a golden retriever, but still had enough strength to knock his butt into the sand. 

He asked, “Hey, girl. You miss me?” 

Percy scratched behind her ear as she tried to lick his face. Cass pushed her out of the way and tried to climb on top of Percy. He laughed, trying to hug each of his friends as they dogpiled him. 

Onyx laid down next to them, and Percy clamored his way over. He leaned his whole body against the hellhound and buried his face in Onyx’s fur.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t back sooner.”

There used to be more than a dozen of them. Percy tried to console himself knowing that if the others wanted to make their way back to him, they’d know where to look. 

Percy raised his head and saw Onyx’s crimson eyes watching him. 

“Hey, boy. How about we go for a ride?”

The pack started wagging their tails and barking as Percy climbed on top of Onyx. With a bit of a push, Onyx heaved himself off the ground. Percy patted his neck.

“Nothing serious tonight, okay? Let’s just have some fun.”  
  
Onyx woofed in confirmation, the sound vibrating in Percy’s chest. And then they were off. With the first plunge into the darkness, Percy couldn’t help but laugh. The rush of shadow-travel was something he missed, along with the powerful pulse of Onyx’s body as they raced through the darkening woods. He could hear the crunch of snow and twigs snapping all around him as they tore through the wilds. 

They were maybe halfway through the woods when without warning, Onyx came to a stop. Percy grunted, nearly being thrown off his back. 

“Huh? What’s wrong?”  
  
The rest of the pack had stopped now. They were all circling the same area, noses pressed to the snow.

“Are you all hungry? Is it a trail?”  
  
He squinted in the dark, finding that his once-natural ability to see in the dark came more slowly to him now. Percy blinked, eyes adjusting to the low light. Between the tracks of pawprints, there were human footprints in the snow.  
  
“Just a camper,” he said, trying to urge Onyx along. They were probably in the woods earlier in the day. However, Onyx refused to budge. 

Some of the hellhounds were pacing the clearing now, looking in a new direction. Percy frowned. It didn’t seem like the trail was leading back to camp. There couldn’t still be anyone in the woods, right?  
  
But if there was, there were some nasty things that liked to come out in the dark.

“Come on,” Percy said, “let’s see if we can find them.”  
  
He tugged on Onyx’s fur (and maybe he should consider getting a saddle for him), urging his hellhound in the direction of the trail. Onyx raised his head and let out a howl, the others following. Like the sound of a hunting call, they leaped into the shadows again. 

They bounded deeper and deeper into the woods, sometimes doubling back and sometimes switching directions without warning. Percy was certain they left camp entirely and were now out in the wilderness. No way would a camper managed to stray this far. If they were travelling on foot, it probably would take hours to reach where Percy and his pack were.

And this was the fifth or sixth time they were stopping. Some of the hellhounds were pawing at the ground, others were panting and trying to sniff at the air. Percy squinted. 

Sure enough, there were still human footprints in the snow. 

“Who in Hades..?” 

Percy tried to scan the woods. Onyx caught wind of something and began staring in one direction. With a nudge from his foot, he urged the pack through the woods. No longer racing, but hopefully getting close to whoever it was. 

They eventually came to a clearing cut in half by a small creek. There was a big outcropping of rock on the other side with a hollow crevice it just large enough for someone to sit in. A small campfire burned in front of the outcrop, revealing the figure of a boy sitting alone. His face was buried in his arms and his legs were drawn close to his chest. He didn’t know they were here yet. Percy carefully, _carefully_ dismounted. 

_“Go,”_ he whispered, watching to make sure the hellhounds melted back into the shadows. 

Percy let his second skin settle back into place. He rested his hand on his pocket holding Riptide as he stepped into the clearing. The boy startled and raised his head. 

“Who’s there? Who are you?”

Percy stopped at the other side of the creek, getting a better look at the kid. 

“You’re the boy from Westover,” he said.

The kid scowled. “My name is Nico. You’re-”

A flicker of confusion crossed his face. “I thought you were dead.”

Percy gave him a humorless smile. “Yeah, I get that a lot.”

The campers Percy saw hanging out by the woods made sense now. They were probably searching for Nico. 

He crossed the creek, treading on top of the water as if it were solid ice. Nico watched him with rapt attention as Percy sat down on a rock across from him. He rested his elbows on his knees and took in the kid’s appearance. His clothes were covered in muddy snow and there were some scratches in his jacket. Maybe not from monsters, but from getting snagged on branches.

“You’re pretty far from camp.”  
  
“Y-yeah, well s-so are you.”

That got a snort out of Percy. “Guess you’re right.”

The wind blew and Nico shivered. Percy grabbed a stick and stoked at the dying campfire. 

“So why are you out here on your own?”

Nico’s face scrunched into an impressive scowl.  
  
“You can’t make me go back! A- she promised me she’d keep my sister safe and she lied to me.”  
  
His voice cracked a little bit, and Percy could hear the hoarse rasp in his voice. 

“Who did? Wasn’t your sister a Hunter?”  
  
Nico shook his head, lips pursed tightly. _“Her._ Annabeth.”

He spat Annabeth’s name like it was a curse. Percy froze. 

“Annabeth?”  
  
Nico looked away, eyes fixed on the fire. He looked miserable, shivering and exhausted. 

Percy got up and circled the fire. He sat down on the cold ground next to Nico. He didn’t want to give the kid the whole demigods-die-young talk, it was too late for that. He didn’t want to give Nico some hollow words of comfort, either.

“I know what it feels like to think you’ve been betrayed.”  
  
Nico didn’t respond. 

“You think you can trust someone, count on them for anything, when all of a sudden they’re just… gone. And you’re all alone.”

Nico kept quiet, shoulders tense as Percy talked. 

“I also know what it feels like to think your only option is to run away. You feel like no one wants you around, that you couldn’t possibly belong anywhere you go. And maybe being alone feels good for a while. You think you can make it on your own, but trust me, it’s not worth it. It’s not worth how scary it is to actually be by yourself.”

“I’m not scared.”

Percy resisted the urge to snort. “Yeah, I’m sure. So let me ask you something. It’s night, it’s only going to get colder from here, you don’t have any food or fuel for your fire, and you have no weapons or backup. If you aren’t scared, then what is your plan?”  
  
“I don’t know! I’ll just- I’ll…” Nico raised his head blinked. He took a shuddering breath and Percy could almost feel the weight of his situation hitting him. He swallowed and added, “I just don’t want to go back to camp.”

“Why not?”  
  
Nico pounded one fist against the earth. “I just can’t! I don’t- I won’t feel like I belong.”

When Nico pounded his fist against the ground, Percy swore he saw the light from the fire dimming and the shadow creep closer. He raised a brow. Nico was strong, but he wasn’t trained. Percy didn’t want to think of the many nasty fates that could befall an untrained demigod. 

Percy asked, genuinely curious, “Why do you think that?”  
  
“I don’t know. I have really bad nightmares all the time. I even saw Bianca d- I saw her in my dreams and could tell when she was hurt. And I can do scary things.”  
  
“Like what?”  
  
“I made the ground crack open. I can control shadows and make them bring me places.”

Percy’s eyes narrowed. “You mean shadow-travel?”  
  
“I guess?”

An icy shock hit Percy. He stared at Nico, piecing the clues together. 

“You shouldn’t be able to do that unless you were the kid of someone really powerful.”

Nico scowled. “So I really don’t belong?”  
  
Percy shook his head. “No, I’m just saying you have a lot of potential.”

He took a breath and exhaled, revealing the ivory white of his fangs. He blinked his eyes, the shadows abating. Nico flinched, and Percy was willing to bet he got a taste of his true eyes. 

“You’re like me.”

Percy let his inner self fade, his second skin shielding his eyes and fangs from sight.

“Look, Nico. You have to understand that kids of the Big Three aren’t supposed to be alive. There’s a prophecy saying that one of us might overthrow Olympus. Even though it’s not our fault, Thalia was killed and turned into a tree for a while. I got kidnapped and died before being brought back. People call me an abomination, too. It’s not easy.”

Nico’s eyes narrowed. “Big Three?”  
  
“Well, names have power, but there’s the big guy in the sky-”  
  
“Zeus?”

Thankfully, the sky overhead didn’t rumble with thunder. Maybe Uncle Grumpy was asleep.

Percy continued, “Then there’s my dad, god of storms and seas.”

He watched for Nico’s reaction as he said, “And lastly, there’s the god of the dead. My uncle.”

Nico mouthed the word _Hades._

Percy nodded. There wasn’t any other god in charge of earth, shadows, and the dead. Percy stood and held a hand out to Nico. 

“Come on, I’ll bring you back to camp.”  
  
The younger boy hesitated. His eyes darted from Percy’s hand to his face and back again. Then he took it. His skin was freezing cold.

“Thank you,” he said softly.

Percy grinned. “No problem. Now, let’s get home.”

Percy whistled into the night. This time, they didn’t have to wait until the pack came. Nico stumbled back as the hellhounds emerged from the dark. 

“Don’t worry, these ones are mine.”

Onyx lowered himself to the ground and Percy climbed onto his back. He smiled at Nico. “See?”

Just like that, some of the wariness and exhaustion faded from his face. Nico actually looked like a kid as he clamored up Onyx’s side to sit behind Percy. He jumped and wrapped his arms around Percy’s waist as Onyx got to his feet. Before they left, Percy paused. 

“Oh, yeah.”  
  
He raised his hand and sent the creek rising up in a wave. It splashed over the campfire, dousing the flames. 

“Can’t risk having any nature spirits pissed at you.”

With that, the pack began heading back to camp.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rule of equivalent exchange states that if I can't get Jercy then there's no Percabeth allowed either. (and oof do i feel like i opened pandora's box by asking in the first place) Besides, this fic is really just focused on making Percy as depressed and as much of a tragic hero as possible so pls keep that in mind thank u.  
> –––  
> a little hint at the future of this fic:
> 
> Chaos when remaking Percy’s body: i made my bby look so handsome, now everyone will like him
> 
> Percy, inevitably: You have fucked me up yet again is what u did.  
> –––  
> EDIT: ok i've gotten a lot of feedback on ships in the past week and have already made up my mind pls no more comments about ships thank u


	10. walls keep spinning (my path keeps turning)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well this took a while. From now on, due to other things I want to write, this fic might update more slowly. However, I hope the extra-long chapters make up for it! 
> 
> But we're finally at Camp Jupiter! And things are going to get spicy 👀🔥
> 
> (Title from Miracle Musical's Labyrinth)

The camp was still active despite it being dark out. Percy stopped the pack just outside the border. He slid off of Onyx’s back, Nico following and stumbling as he landed.

“Wait here,” Percy said. 

Then he raised his head and whistled against the wind. The hellhounds raised their heads in turn and joined him, howling long and loud. 

“Huh? What are you doing?” Nico asked, wincing from the volume. 

“Getting Chiron’s attention.”

Just as expected, Percy could hear the incoming sound of horse hooves. 

“Get back,” he said to his pack, though Nico also took a few steps back. Chiron appeared, bow and arrow in hand. He slowed to a stop just within the border. 

“Percy? Nico? What are you both doing?”

Percy stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “I found Nico. He uh, he got lost.”

“Wh-” Percy stepped on his foot.

“Right,” Nico said, “I just wanted to be alone but I ended up getting lost in the woods.”

Chiron didn’t look particularly convinced, but he was more preoccupied by the pack. 

“And what of these hellhounds?”

“They’re mine, Chiron. They won’t hurt anyone unless I say so, and I’ll take full responsibility for them.”

“Percy,” Chiron said, stroking his beard, “I trusted your judgement regarding Tyson, but _hellhounds?_ While you were not here to control them, they spent nearly every night trying to get into camp.”

“Because they were looking for _me,”_ Percy said. He reached out and petted Ruby on top of her head, “See, they just care about me. Chiron, I promise I’ll keep them in check.”

His mentor looked less than pleased. 

“Until I can fully assess whether they’ll be safe to let into the camp, they remain outside the border.”

“Deal.”

Percy nudged Nico along before turning to his pack. He gave them a round of scratches behind an assortment of ears and a brief session of belly rubs before leaving them for the night. With Onyx around, they should find prey without issue. When Percy stepped inside the border, Chiron was staring at him with pursed lips.

“It’s getting quite cold now. You both should return to your cabins.”

Percy nodded. “Come on, Nico.”

As they walked to the cabins, Percy noticed how Nico kept glancing over his shoulder to catch glimpses of the pack. If Nico really was a kid of Hades, then maybe the hellhounds could teach him to shadow travel. 

But for now, Percy really just wanted some sleep.

* * *

“You seriously tamed some hellhounds?” Travis asked. 

Percy shrugged. “It was easy.”

From somewhere behind him, he heard Connor snort. “First Tyson last summer, now a pack of hellhounds? What stray are you taking in next?”

“My money is on a drakon,” Travis said. 

Percy didn’t say anything in response as he finished tying the straps of his leg braces. The Hermes cabin (and by that, he just meant the Stolls) had asked him to help train Nico for the day. 

“Um, Percy?” Nico asked quietly, “Can- can you-?”

He saw the way his breastplate was strapped wrong and nodded. 

“Here, lift your arm. I’ll show you how to do it.”

Percy remembered when he first came to camp. It was actually Luke who taught him how to strap his armor, and he had to show Percy more than once. He quickly pushed the memory out of his mind. Nico was still so scrawny that even the training armor weighed heavily on him. Thank the gods they were only using wooden practice swords. 

“So has anyone taught you the basics yet?” Percy asked. 

Nico shook his head. “Travis and Connor taught me how to pick locks, though.”

Great. Very helpful.

“Well, first we’ll start by finding you the right sword.”

The training swords were much lighter than the real ones, and Nico didn’t seem to have much issue wielding one. 

“Okay, so just do as I do and we’ll go through the basics together.”

For the most part, Percy had never taught anyone sword fighting before. He was considered one of the best in camp, but only because he had so much experience being a year-rounder, facing enemies on quests, and fighting for his life against beings much more powerful than himself. 

At first, he was afraid his powers given to him by Chaos would make him a bad opponent. Nico couldn’t learn from someone he couldn’t even stand being around. But after a while, Percy began to notice the inverse problem. Nico’s eyes stayed fixed on him. He wasn’t paying attention to his environment, so it was easy for Percy to trip him up more than once. After an hour of hitting Nico with the flat side of his sword, Percy took pity on him.

“Alright, take a break. Grab something to eat and get some water.”

Nico lowered his sword with a relieved sigh. Percy put away his training sword and pulled out Riptide. There were some training dummies on the other side of the arena calling his name, and Percy itched for something to really hit.

And for a while, it felt good. He hacked through the tough cloth and severed limbs stuffed with straw. He spun and swung, hacking and cleaving, until there was sweat on the back of his neck and he was taking off his jacket in the winter afternoon. He also had to remind himself more than once that Annabeth wasn’t here to walk in on him anymore. 

When there weren’t any dummies left to hack apart, Percy lowered his sword. His chest was heaving and he didn’t realize how sweaty he was. He ran a hand through his damp hair, putting Riptide away as he began piling up the dummies for the harpies to repair. Something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He glanced to the side. A mop of dark hair lingering by the entrance ducked out of view.

Percy would deal with that later. For now, he wanted something to eat and a shower. He grabbed his jacket from where he threw it to the side and left the empty arena. Nico had run off, leaving Percy to wonder how long the younger boy was watching him.

“Hey, Percy!” 

He turned. Grover was trotting from the woods. A faint smile spread across his lips. 

“Hey, G. What’s up?”

Grover started walking alongside him. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, his grin fading.

“I uh, I just got done IM’ing Annabeth. She’s, you know, with Thalia and the Hunters. And I know it’s only been like a day, but she seems to be doing well.”

Percy nodded, kicking a stone and watching it tumble down the path. 

Grover said, “She knows you’re alive, Percy.” 

He stopped, eyes wide. 

“She does? She-” Percy ran a hand through his hair, “she must be pissed at me. Is she mad? Grover, what happened?”

Grover let out a nervous bleat. “I uh, I think she’ll still taking the news in. But I really think you should IM her.”

Percy bit his lip and muttered a swear. “I don’t know. What if she doesn’t want to talk to me?”

“Percy, you’re one of her closest friends. Just talk to her.”

He didn’t respond. Percy still felt like breaking something, but he also felt like crying.

“I’ll see you later, Grover.”

“You’re not gonna-”

Whatever else he said, Percy didn’t hear. He stormed his way down to the cabins. In the big central field, he saw Hestia seated by the fire with Nico. Percy ignored them as he locked himself inside his cabin. 

The fountain built into the back wall cast rippling blue light across the ceiling. Percy braced his hands on the smooth stone and picked out a drachma from the bottom of the fountain. He flipped it over in his hands, studying the engravings of a wreath and a trident. 

He wondered what Annabeth was doing now. Did she look like the Hunters? Dressed in silver with one of those gleaming bows? 

He wrinkled his nose at the thought. He had nothing against Artemis, but her Hunters hadn’t exactly done him many favors. To him or his pack. 

Percy took a step back and sucked in a breath. He had to do this now or else he’d never be able to make himself do it later. So he tossed the coin into the rainbow cast above the water spout. 

“Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow. Show me Annabeth…” Percy hesitated, he didn’t actually know where she was, “...Annabeth of the Hunters of Artemis.”

The rainbow shimmered and warped, an image taking place in the center. 

Percy caught a glimpse of silver tents behind a line of trees and a white wolf trotting by. But front and center was Annabeth, looking like she was practicing her archery on a target hung by a tree. He cleared his throat.

She spun on her heel, quick and agile like she’d always been. The glow of the Hunters couldn’t possibly refine that. 

Her gray eyes widened as she sucked in a breath. Annabeth lowered her bow and took a step closer to the rainbow. It looked like she wanted to walk right through the call and step into his cabin. 

_“Percy? You’re really alive? But I thought- when you died on Olympus you sounded like you were sure you were really dying.”_

He wanted to smile for her. He wanted to laugh and rub the back of his neck. He wanted to tell her he was fine. But really, Percy was sweaty and the winter air was chilling his skin, and he was tired and he was hungry and he was a fucking thousand other things that meant he wasn’t really okay. 

“Yeah, I uh… I guess I was wrong about that.”

Her eyes flickered over his form. _“You look good though. Alive and all.”_

Percy snorted. “I’m not sure you’re allowed to say things like that anymore.”

Annabeth planted a hand on her hip. _“I’m saying it as a friend, Seaweed Brain. I’m still allowed to have those.”_

The wind left his lungs as it felt like Percy was being punched in the gut. He swallowed and sucked in a breath. 

“So uh… being a Hunter and all now, how are you planning on being an architect?”

The budding light in Annabeth’s eyes dimmed. She shifted her weight from foot to foot. _“Right, well you know how things go. Sometimes we don’t get what we think we want.”_

If that wasn’t the story of Percy’s fucking life. 

He clenched and unclenched his jaw. “Alright. It was good to see you, Annabeth. If you ever want to do this again, you can always IM me. I’ll be here.”

She nodded. _“Thanks, Percy.”_

Before she could wave the message away, Percy said, “And I’m glad you’re happy with the Hunters, Wise Girl.”

She nodded again, lips pressed tight together as she waved her hand through the rainbow and sent it fading away. Percy exhaled sharply. 

He stood still for one second, then two. 

Then he collapsed on his bed as the first sob wrung itself from his lungs. 

* * *

Percy burnt a fuck ton of food for his dad, and now he had to hope he listened. It was past midnight now, and he had just spent the last hour with the Ophiotaurus. It was fine though, he didn’t think he’d be getting much sleep anyways. 

At least Bessie, as he decided to call her, was content to have some company. She slept curled around him in a crevice beneath a rocky outcropping. The surface of the ocean rippled about a hundred feet above them. Percy doodled in the sand with Riptide. Every now and then, a school of fish or a Hippocampus would swim by and try to entertain him. 

Just when he thought he wasted his night, something in the water changed. A rippling wave of warmth that washed over him, chasing away the cold. The feeling was like a fresh breath of air, even if he was underwater. Percy’s vision was perfect in the water, especially when it was so dark, but he could spot the figure glowing with a pale blue aura any day. 

“Percy,” Poseidon said. 

“Hi, Dad.”

“Why did you try to summon me?”

Percy stood, putting away Riptide and brushing the sand from his pants. He nudged Bessie awake. 

“Is that-”

_“Moo?”_

Percy petted the top of her head. “Dad, this is Bessie. The Ophiotaurus.”

Poseidon came forward and knelt in front of Bessie. The glow around him was much softer now, just giving Percy enough light to see his immediate surroundings. He had a deep frown etched onto his face. 

“Percy, this is very serious. The Ophiotaurus is a dangerous creature. How did you even find it?”

“She came here to look for me.” 

Bessie raised herself on her front two legs, ears twitching while the end of her eel tail flicked from side to side. His dad ran a hand over his beard. 

“The other Olympians will want him dead.”

_“Him?”_

“Moo.” Bessie looked to Percy, nuzzling against his side. He placed his hand on top of Bessie’s head. 

“The others will see the Ophiotaurus as a threat. We need to keep him secure.”

Percy felt a glimmer of hope. “So you won’t hurt Bessie?”

Poseidon stood. “No. I won’t kill a creature of the sea unless absolutely necessary. But the Ophiotaurus cannot stay here, I’ll have him moved to Atlantis.”

“But Bessie will be safe?”

Poseidon nodded. “Percy, you need to understand how grave this is. The Ophiotaurus will require my full protection to keep him from Kronos’ forces.”

A part of Percy was relieved that Bessie would be safe. A part of him ached to not lose another friend. But he supposed this was more important than how he felt. 

He turned to the Ophiotaurus and patted his snout. “Alright. Well, it was nice to meet you, Bessie. Sorry I thought you were a girl.”

The Ophiotaurus nosed at his palm and lowed softly. Poseidon snapped his fingers and the Ophiotaurus disappeared with a flash of blue light. 

“The Ophiotaurus is currently being transported to my domain. You’ve done well to bring the- to bring Bessie to me, Percy.”

Percy stuffed his hands in his pockets. 

“Thanks, Dad.”

He expected Poseidon to leave after that. Instead, his father lingered. Percy wondered what Poseidon was thinking. It was a strange situation for him, probably. His only mortal son came back from the dead and only a few days later, was handing him one of the most dangerous creatures in the Greek pantheon. 

“A lot of people would not hesitate to kill the Ophiotaurus for their own gain. I’m grateful that you brought him to me, Percy.”

With that, Poseidon turned and vanished into the murky depths. Percy felt a chill wash over him with his father’s absence. He sighed and turned back, planning on curling up in bed for as long as he could.

* * *

The days passed. Percy was in the middle of another training session with Nico when Travis came running into the arena. He was breathless, clutching his side as he came to a stop. 

“Percy, emergency meeting for all the counselors. Clarisse is back.”

Percy lowered his sword. He furrowed his brows until he realized that in all his time back at camp, he hadn’t run into Clarisse once. 

“Where has she been? A quest?”

It would certainly explain her absence. Travis gave him a strange look, like the answer was obvious. 

“It happened while you were gone. Come on, Chiron’s waiting for us.”

Must be urgent, then. Percy turned to Nico, “Good job for today, I’ll talk later.”

“Percy, what’s happening?”

Percy shook his head. “I don’t know.”

He put away Riptide and followed Travis to the Big House. Inside, they found the camp counsellors gathered around the ping pong table in the rec room. Clarisse was seated on a stool at one end of the table, and she looked fucking terrible. Her clothes were grimy and torn up. Her face was smeared with dirt and her hair was matted in places. Dark crescents hung under her eyes as she propped one elbow on her knee. Even though it looked like she’d been through Hades, Clarisse kept her head up as Silena dabbed at a cut on her chin with a clean cloth. 

Her eyes flickered toward the door when Percy came in, one hand reaching for the dagger at her side. She relaxed, although her eyes widened with surprise. 

“Jackson? When’d you come back to camp? And since when did you start looking like such a pretty boy?”

The table collectively winced from Clarrise’s words, no one having brought up Percy’s appearance since he arrived. He said nothing as he sat down at the other side of the table.

“It’s complicated,” he said, “so what happened to you? Where have _you_ been?”

Everyone else seemed to tense as Clarisse’s jaw clenched and unclenched. 

“It’s complicated.” 

Percy nodded and didn’t press any further. He spun Riptide in his hand absentmindedly until Chiron arrived, looking grim. Clarisse straightened. 

“How is he?”

 _He?_ Percy wracked his brain trying to think if anyone else from camp had been missing since he got back. He hadn’t seen Mr. D as of late, but since there were only a dozen or so year-rounders and he couldn’t think of anyone else, he realized Clarisse must have gone on her quest alone. And not only that, but she brought someone back. Percy got a bad feeling in his gut as Chiron parked his wheelchair beside Clarisse. 

“It’s too early to tell if he will recover or not. At this point, we will just have to wait.”

Clarisse scowled but said nothing. Her eyes drifted over the room. 

“Where’s Annabeth?”

All eyes fell on Percy. He tilted his chin up, saying, “Gone. Went with the Hunters. Same with Thalia.”

Clarisse’s scowl deepened, reminding him too much of her dad. She pushed the hair from her face and muttered something under her breath. Percy had to remind himself that Clarisse knew Annabeth even longer than he did. 

Chiron cleared his throat and fixed his gaze on Percy. 

“We discovered something grave within the camp while you were… absent, Percy. Deep in the woods, we uncovered the entrance to a network of tunnels extending far beyond Camp Half-Blood.”

Percy frowned. He spent plenty of nights in the woods with his pack, there wasn’t any way they could have missed something like that. 

“When was it found?”

Chiron replied, “Shortly after the rescue mission to Maine, for Nico. We couldn’t assess how stable or dangerous the tunnels were by only venturing in short distances.”

“So I volunteered to really see what was down there,” Clarisse said. She was tapping one finger against the hilt of her knife now, Percy could hear it. Clarisse said, “And it’s bad. The thing is huge, the walls change all the time and its fucking full of monsters.”

She shuddered, as if a hundred different close encounters were flashing in her mind. Percy knew the feeling well. 

“But what’s important is that if I could get in and get out, it means something else could as well.”

Like a monster. Or an army. 

“We have to find a way to collapse it, then,” Beckendorf said.

Chiron spoke up, “I’m afraid it may not be as simple as that. It seems that my worst fears have been confirmed. These aren’t old tunnels abandoned by past children of Hephaestus. This is a labyrinth unlike any other.”

A cold wave washed over the table. 

“It’s _the_ Labyrinth,” Clarisse said, “Capital ‘L’. And it’s suicide to try navigating that thing.”

 _Fucking hell,_ Percy thought. The next thing he said, he did so without hesitation. 

“But we still have to find a way to destroy it. And if anyone has to go back in, I’ll do it.”

The table erupted with objections. But from directly across from him, Chiron seemed to age about five years in a few seconds. He met Percy’s eye, but he refused to back down. He could take his pack if he had to. Besides, they both knew that death was a very different matter for him. If the Labyrinth was dangerous enough for Clarisse to barely make it, Percy might be the camp’s only hope. 

* * *

That winter at camp was unlike any other Percy had witnessed. Instead of a dozen or so year-rounders living in a limbo between summers, they were actively preparing for war. Beckendorf spent days at a time forging weapons and designing traps to guard the woods and borders. Clarisse was drilling her brothers from morning to night to keep them sharp. She was even teaching Silena to fight, in case they faced something truly catastrophic. But even when she was shouting orders, her voice lacked the edge Percy knew well. 

And on Tuesday evenings, Chiron was busy teaching an additional student. Every week, Percy’s mom arrived at camp for her archery lessons. The first time it happened, Percy met her with Chiron at the top of the hill. She hugged him immediately and Percy melted into her touch. 

“Hi, Mom.” 

“Hi, Percy. It’s so strange being back at camp,” she said, though she was smiling. Percy hoped she knew what she was getting into. These probably weren’t going to be the type of lessons to feature blunt-tipped arrows or much safety regulations. 

The three of them walked down to camp. Chiron didn’t mention the Labyrinth issue, which Percy was kind of grateful for. He hated keeping secrets from his mom, but he wanted her to think that the camp was still safe for him. 

They walked past the climbing wall, where Clarisse and her siblings were gearing up at the bottom. She did a double take as they walked past. 

“Chiron, who’s this?”

Before Chiron could reply, Percy said, “This is my mom.”

Clarisse blinked. “Your _mom?”_

Percy, who went through literal hell once to save his mother, was prepared to take absolutely no shit. But before he could say anything, his mom smiled and waved. 

“Hi, you can just call me Sally if you want. Are you one of Percy’s friends?”

Both Percy and Clarisse balked. 

“I’m, um, I’m not- I’m Clarisse.”

Percy would have laughed at the sight of Clarisse stumbling over her words if the situation wasn’t also weird for him as well. He quickly ushered his mom onward. 

At the archery range, a light dusting of snow covered the ground. Percy sat on the bench to the side while Chiron went through the same safety lecture he gave Percy when he first came to camp. Mom tried out a traditional bow, which she did alright with. Percy noticed the tension in her shoulders when she tried to fire it, but she did better with a compound bow. 

After a round of testing Mom’s baseline skills, Chiron nodded and retrieved the crossbow hanging on the rack to the side. 

“I believe this is what you prefer, yes?”

Percy cocked his head to the side as he watched his mom load the crossbow. She must have used one before, because her aim with it was a lot better than before. 

“Mom, when’d you ever learn to shoot like that?”

She grinned as she pushed the hair from her face, “Oh you know, you pick things up over the years.”

Percy leaned his elbows on his thighs as he watched his mom. It was such a surreal experience, having her not only in camp, but _here._ Training. Being a part of his life like when he was younger. He didn’t realize how much he missed her.

After her hour at the archery range, Percy wanted to do one last thing before Mom went back home. He led her out of the range and across camp. 

“The place feels so empty in the winter,” Mom commented, “There are more campers in the summer, right?”

“Yeah, dozens.”

Maybe his mom was trying to imagine Camp Half-Blood the way most campers knew it: chaotic as Hades and full of kids. The camp during the winter was always quiet. Eventually, the two of them made it to the beach. 

“Oh, wow,” she said, “reminds me of Montauk.”

Percy couldn’t help but smile. He took a few steps ahead of his mom and turned to her. He held out his hands and said, “Alright, don’t freak out.”

Before she could object, Percy let out a long, shrill whistle. It would have been a good one for hailing a cab, but he had something else in mind. Before too long, some howls in the distance responded to him. The pack burst from the treeline several dozen yards away, kicking up sand in their wake as they bounded toward Percy. 

He held his arms out and let Ruby nearly bowl him over. He laughed, running his fingers through her fur as the others circled him with their tails wagging. 

He looked up. “Mom, meet my friends.”

She had her hands pressed over her mouth, eyes wide. But when the hellhounds sniffed at Percy’s clothes without mauling him, she tentatively lowered her hands. She stared for a moment at Onyx, the biggest of the pack, before her eyes darted back to Percy. 

“Oh, Percy,” she said, which gave him a sinking feeling in his gut. Then she gave him a nervous smile, “I- I don’t think our apartment allows pets.”

Relief seeped into his bones. He urged the pack as close to the border as he could get them.

“I call them my pack. I’ve spent a lot of time with them since last summer.”

Slowly, very slowly, his mom extended her hand past the border. Andrea, being bigger than a horse, still had to bow her head low to sniff at his mom’s hand. 

“Be nice,” he said to them.

Andrea woofed and nudged his mom’s hand with her nose. It made her jolt and almost pull her hand away. 

“They’re so warm,” she said. 

Percy laughed, “Yeah, they’re hellhounds. I’ve been trying to train them so that Chiron lets them into the camp.”

Mom ran her hand over Andrea’s snout. “How did you even befriend them in the first place?”

Percy’s smile faded. He recalled the past summer after his excursion into the Sea of Monsters. He had just felt so _alone,_ but these hellhounds had been drawn to him. 

“They came to me, and I kind of became part of their pack? I think maybe they adopted me, actually.”

His mom’s gaze softened as she scratched Andrea behind the ear. Some of the others clamored over each other, wanting attention as well. Percy absentmindedly ran his hands through Cass’ fur, avoiding the scar near her neck that he knew she didn’t like being touched. The only one not participating was Onyx, standing a few feet away and ears perked up to watch out for disturbances. Always the vigilant older brother for the pack.

“You never stop surprising me, Percy,” Mom said, gaze growing soft as Andrea rolled over to expose her belly, “if they make you happy, then I’m glad you have them.” 

* * *

That night, Percy fell into a fitful sleep. His dreams felt muddled and fuzzy, shifting from image to image. At times, he was watching a group of girls sitting around a campfire, some sharpening hunting knives and others singing some song together. At other times, Percy was aboard Kronos’ ship, recognizing the halls but not able to control what he saw. Even then, he could feel something cold and ancient permeating the whole ship. It made his skin crawl, making his chaotic dreams even less restful. 

His vision shifted and then lingered on a long, dark hallway. Torches lined the stone walls, but the light they gave off seemed subdued. There were long gaps of shadows between torches and the hall- no, a tunnel- extended far beyond what he could see. It made Percy feel uneasy. 

_What is this place?_ He thought to himself. He didn’t recognize it at all.

The ground trembled as dust cascaded from cracks above. The torch light flickered. 

A voice he was starting to know well answered. 

_You ask for my aid, child?_

_It was really more of a rhetorical question,_ Percy responded. 

A laugh. Then the voice said, _You will know this place well enough. Soon, my child. Oh, what wonderful trouble you and this place will stir…_

The tunnel began collapsing in places, chunks of stone the size of refrigerators falling all around him. Percy bowed his head, covering the back of his neck as he willed himself to go anywhere else.

And then it felt like he was falling. He jerked and stumbled to a stop at the top of a hill. For a second, he thought it was Camp Half-Blood. But the longer he stared, the more he realized it couldn’t be. The valley before him was more than four times the size of camp, with too many buildings. He had no idea what to make of it before the sound of knocking made his eyes snap open. 

Percy sat up in bed and felt how the back of his shirt was soaked with sweat. He wrinkled his nose and flung it off as he stumbled to the door. 

“What?”

He squinted into the dark, the world coming into focus as he willed it to. He found Nico standing on his cabin porch, eyes wide with a pillow clutched to his chest. He opened and closed his mouth several times without any sound coming out. 

“Shit,” Percy rubbed the sleep from his eyes, “What’s wrong, Nico?”

It was way past curfew, something had to be wrong. 

“I just- I couldn’t sleep,” Nico said, “And I wanted to know, if it was okay, if I could…”

Percy blinked at him. He never heard of campers sleeping in different godly cabins, probably because it was an unspoken no-no. But Percy was never good at following rules, and Nico looked like he hadn’t gotten any sleep in days. 

He stepped to the side and let Nico in. Just so the cleaning harpies couldn’t eat him for being out past curfew. 

“What was it?” he asked as he closed the door, “Nightmares?”

Nico stood still in the middle of the cabin. He spun in a slow circle, taking in the shell-studded roof and the faintly glowing fountain in the back. 

“Your cabin is really cool,” he said. 

Percy nodded as he shuffled past Nico and rummaged through the chest next to his bed for a clean shirt. 

“Thanks, you can take any bunk you want.”

Nico tossed his pillow onto the bunk above Percy’s before climbing up the ladder and disappearing over the top. Hearing him rustling around was definitely weird after months of living alone. The last time Percy had company was Tyson during the previous summer. 

Percy climbed back into bed and sighed as he sank into the mattress. Just as he was about to fall asleep again, he heard a whisper.

_“Percy?”_

He opened his eyes, not even bothering to adjust his gaze to the dark. 

“Yeah?”

Nico was quiet for so long, Percy almost thought he fell asleep. 

“I miss my sister.”

Oh. 

“Oh.” Percy said, “It’s alright to miss her, Nico.”

“I know…” Percy heard Nico shifting above him. “But it was just us for so long. And now I don’t know what to do.”

Nico’s voice turned breathless and ragged. Percy sat up and wondered if he should climb up to sit with Nico.

“And now I have nightmares all the time. A-and she’s always there.”

Percy frowned. “What do you mean?”

Nico sucked in a breath. “I-I see this huge field in my dreams full of dead people. And she’s there. Wandering like she’s one of them.”

That sounded like the Fields of Asphodel. Percy thought that any demigod who died young deserved Elysium hands-down, but the choice wasn’t his to make. 

“And every time I dream of Bianca, it’s like all the other ghosts notice me too. They try to grab me and shout at me, begging me to take them with me...”

A shaky breath. “I hate it, Percy. I just want the dreams to stop.”

Gods, if that wasn’t him. Percy sighed as he threw off the covers and climbed up the ladder. Nico was sitting curled up by the head of the bed. He stared at Percy with his eyes as dark as obsidian. 

“Do you get nightmares too? How do you make them go away?”

Percy didn’t want to tell Nico there was no easy way to be a demigod. Instead he clamored over the rumpled covers to sit next to Nico. Percy wasn’t exactly an expert in cheering other people up, and he did spend most of his life feeling like an outsider even among demigods. But he knew how awful it was to feel alone. 

Nico leaned his head against Percy’s shoulder. 

“I’m sorry I’m here. I woke you up and everything.”

“It’s alright, Nico. I wasn’t getting much rest either.”

Nico looked up at him. “Why not?”

Percy bit his lip. “It’s not easy for me to talk about. But you can stay, okay? Just promise me you’ll try to get some rest.”

Nico nodded. “...Alright.”

* * *

The day Percy was supposed to descend into the Labyrinth on his first scouting mission, he already decided he wasn’t going in alone. During the private meeting the night before in the Big House, Clarisse gave him a full breakdown of her time in the Labyrinth. And it was apparently impossible to navigate. He could try leaving some kind of trail, or take a spool of thread with him, but the Labyrinth had a way of disorienting people. Reshaping itself so that you couldn’t tell where you came from or where you were going.

Percy thought that it was a good thing Clarisse was too stubborn to die, but he wasn’t going to risk it himself. Besides, he had another reason for not going in alone. He needed to show Chiron his pack was trustworthy. Plus, if he was going to be stuck in some dark, decrepit, and endless pit for a while, why not bring some hellhounds for company?

Chiron and he stood at the edge of the border to camp, just outside the beach. 

“You know it is not you I doubt, yes?”

Percy nodded. “I know.” 

He whistled against the wind and waited. The pack came not long after, though some padded anxiously while keeping their eyes on Chiron. Percy watched as Chiron waved one hand while the border shimmered in the light.

“I, Chiron, activities director of Camp Half-Blood, hereby permit these hellhounds within camp so long as they show no ill intention toward any being here.”

Chiron lowered his hand and the border became invisible again. 

Percy patted his thigh, whistling to catch their attention. 

“Come on, guys.”

One by one, starting with Onyx, the hellhounds came trotting into camp. Percy wished he could be happier about this arrangement.

“Are you certain you want to take them with you?” Chiron asked. 

Percy nodded. “We shouldn’t risk more campers than we have to, right? Besides, I trust them.”

Percy wouldn’t take anyone else with him even if he could. Clarisse, despite how tough she was, needed time to recover. Grover had to continue his search for Pan. The rest of the camp was strung thin trying to prepare for summer.

So it would just be him. Percy mounted Onyx, adjusting his backpack full of supplies as he did so. They took the long way to the entrance of the Labyrinth, far from camp and out of sight. 

“You must also understand how serious of a security breach this is,” Chiron said, “what you see or find down there, you cannot share with anyone beyond the staff and counselors."

“I know. I can handle this.”

He could still tell Chiron was dubious, but his mentor didn’t say anything. Chiron trotted ahead, bringing them deeper into the woods. Eventually, they came upon Zeus’ Fist on the west side of the woods. 

“The entrance is here?” Percy asked. 

Chiron nodded. “From what I can tell, the dryads have known about the entrance for quite a while. Though they didn’t understand what it was until recently.”

Chiron circled the pile of boulders until he showed Percy a gap between two rocks just large enough for a person to slip inside. Percy got off of Onyx’s back and surveyed the gap. Down below, he could see a steep slope leading into the darkness. 

“Time will move differently while you’re down there,” Chiron said, “are you certain you want to go through with this?”

Percy could have laughed. “Don’t worry about me, Chiron. I’ll come back.”

Pulling the flashlight from his backpack’s side pocket, Percy clutched it in his hand as he eased through the crack and began sliding into the Labyrinth. He hit the bottom of the slope about ten feet below the surface. He flicked on his flashlight and aimed it toward the sky. Chiron was leaning into the crevice above him. 

“If you can, look for the signs of Daedalus.”

He pointed to something on the opposite side of the wall. Percy beamed the flashlight at it and found the ancient Greek Delta sticking out of the wall like a button. 

“Those are remnants of the Labyrinth’s original builder. They should lead you to an exit if you find one, but they are few and far between.”

Percy nodded. “Thanks, Chiron.”

Then he whistled to catch his hellhounds’ attention. The smaller ones, Ruby, Cass, and Theo were able to slip inside the crack. Percy heard a rustling from the shadows and saw Onyx and Andrea emerge. He frowned when he saw that Onyx’s back was brushing against the ceiling. If the tunnels got any smaller, he didn’t know if he’d be able to take him further. 

He pointed the flashlight in either direction and found that the chamber they were in was actually a long hallway going in either direction. Percy saw something on the ground and found a fragment of white string on the ground trailing to the left. Maybe something Clarisse left behind. 

“Right it is, then,” he said. His goal for now was to explore as much of the Labyrinth as he could, and hopefully gather some information.

Leaving the only source of sunlight behind, Percy led his pack into the darkness. Once his flashlight was the only course of light, Percy decided to experiment. He turned it off and strained his eyes. His ability to see in the dark came to him after a few seconds, just as good as when he had his weird Chaos eyes. He pocketed his flashlight, thinking it’d be best to save the batteries in case he needed the flashlight later. Besides, he had the bronze glow from his sword and the red eyes of his hellhounds to guide him. 

For a while, all they found was the hallway, their footsteps echoing off the damp cobblestone floor. Percy kept expecting something to jump out at them, anything, but for at least ten minutes, all they found was the same hallway. 

“Are we even in the right place?” he wondered aloud, just to hear something other than his footsteps. 

Without warning, the tunnel groaned as the stones began shifting on their own. In seconds, he and the hellhounds were in a massive circular chamber. The ceiling was at least fifty feet above them, and Onyx shook his fur loose after brushing against the tunnel for so long. 

Percy pulled out his flashlight and scanned the room. Tunnels led in four different directions, including the way they came. The one ahead looked like more stone, but the two to the sides were made of red brick. 

He watched as some of the hounds began sniffing around the room. Theo’s tail wagged as they came to the entrance of the tunnel to the right. 

“Alright, then.” Percy said, hoping Theo was picking up on some scent. Instead of a musty, old tunnel, the red bricks almost reminded him of a modern sewer. There was even graffiti dotted on the walls here and there. And instead of one long tunnel, this one turned and twisted, sometimes giving way to patches of wooden boards or manhole covers above his head. 

After another ten or so minutes of not finding anything, Percy considered testing his luck. 

“Sure would suck if we stumbled on something new.”

And just like that, the Labyrinth contorted itself. The brick walls rippled in waves and made way for a long, cement corridor with metal pipes lining the walls. Percy flashed his light across the new hallway. He turned around, finding that the Labyrinth was the same cement tunnel for as far as he could see. 

He tried to do some reading on the Labyrinth before his expedition. He also remembered the stories his mom told him about the Labyrinth, like how Thesus first conquered the Minotaur down here. It was supposed to be impossible to navigate, full of deadly traps. But this, just a series of tunnels, was _not_ what he was expecting. 

A part of him wondered if the Labyrinth was waiting for _him_ to do something as much as he was waiting for it.

Then, after wandering for who knew how long, some of the hounds began barking. Cass and Theo began bounding ahead, followed by Ruby. There wasn’t enough room to climb onto Onyx’s back, but Percy got on Andrea and followed after them. 

They came to a dead end, with nothing more than a rusted metal door blocking their way. Percy strained his eyes and used his flashlight to try finding the Delta symbol Chiron pointed out, but none was there. So this door either led to some new part of the Labyrinth, or was something else. 

Percy climbed off Andrea and forced the old door open. Its hinges groaned, but otherwise gave way to him. Percy stumbled over the threshold, regaining his balance as the rest of the pack came in. Andrea and Onyx melted into the shadows to fit through the door. Percy put his flashlight away and squinted in the dark. It looked like he was in a prison cell overlooking an empty courtyard. Above him were two more floors of cells and catwalks. The only light came from a few flickering fluorescent bulbs dangling from the ceiling. 

Some of the hellhounds were sniffing the air, ears pinned back as they raised their heads. Percy could swear he heard someone crying. 

He grabbed onto Theo’s neck and had him shadow travel Percy to the outside of the cell. Almost reluctantly, the others followed. 

_“Oh, and where did you come from?”_

A voice like a hundred hissing snakes rang from above him. Percy jumped and looked up. 

Two floors above him, half on the catwalk and half clinging to the bars of a prison cell, was the strangest creature he’d ever seen. She had the upper half of a woman, but with scaly skin and snakes for hair. Her lower half was that of a massive black dragon. All around her legs sprouted hundreds of little vipers that coiled and hissed. Percy heard the howl of a wolf and the roar of a bear, realizing the heads of various animals were forming from her waist before dissolving back into her skin. 

His blood ran cold. 

Kampê. The ancient jailer of Tartarus. 

_“Move!”_ He shouted. His first instinct was to get back inside the Labyrinth. The pack shadow travelled back inside the cell, but the door was gone. Percy fumbled with his flashlight, running his fingers over the wall. The Delta symbol had to be there somewhere. 

Above his head, something flashed blue. 

Too late, Percy was overtaken by the deafening grind of metal on metal. He looked back and saw the entire wall of bars being ripped off its hinges. A hand the size of a person reached inside. Onyx snarled and lunged, biting down her palm. Kampê hissed, shaking her hand and throwing Onyx over the catwalk railing. 

Percy didn’t hear him land and had to assume he managed to shadow travel away. He drew Riptide and lunged. 

Hot, sulfuric wind hit his face as massive bat wings unfurled from Kampê’s back and beat the air. She leapt backward, lowering her human half almost to the ground to get a better look at him. Her eyes were pitch black with glowing yellow irises like a snake. 

_“A demigod, is that what you are?”_

He leveled his sword at her, thinking that if he could keep her distracted long enough, he could probably find his way back into the Labyrinth without any of the hounds getting hurt. 

“And you are?” he asked to buy time. 

Most ancient beings liked to brag about themselves. Kampê seemed to be no exception. She drew herself to her full height, wings spread wide. Her lower half had to be at least thirty feet long and her wings were at least fifty feet wide. 

_“I am Kampê! Jailer of the Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires in the eons before the gods! Offspring of Tartarus and Gaea themselves! Tremble before me!”_

From the shadows above them, Onyx lunged from a catwalk. He landed on Kampê’s back, tearing at the joint of one of her wings. She shrieked as she listed to one side, wings flapping as she tried to throw Onyx off her. 

_Shit._

Percy sprinted and lunged, slashing at the vipers sprouting from one of her legs and severing a dozen little heads at a time. He rolled under her, maybe a mistake, but from there he was able to jab her belly. 

Kampê reared back on her hind legs. Percy felt the ground shake from what must have been Onyx falling. He sprinted to the side to avoid being crushed by her front legs. 

Big mistake. The next thing Percy knew, the wind was being knocked out of him as something slammed into his front with enough force to lift him into the air. But instead of soaring like in a free fall, he was falling _up._

His sword arm was pinned to his side, his other arm grasping at Kampê’s hand as she brought him to her face. She wrinkled her nose and snarled at him. 

_“You... you petulant child.”_

As Percy stared into her slit eyes, he felt almost glad that it was him who volunteered for this mission. He couldn’t imagine anyone else in this situation. He only hoped the hounds would have enough sense to try getting back to camp after he was crushed to death or eaten. 

Kampê inhaled through her nose, as if she was smelling him. Instead of immediately killing him, she paused. From somewhere close by, he could hear hellhound snarling. Percy looked down. Some of the hounds were darting around Kampê’s legs, lunging at her vipers or feet. She paid them no mind. 

_“How strange. You smell interesting, half-blood. Not at all like a child of the gods should. Almost like home...”_

She raised her thumb and slid the tip of her talon against his cheek. Percy hissed, eyes watering. All of a sudden, Kampê gasped and dropped him. 

Percy let out a shout. Something slammed into his side halfway to the ground. The next thing he knew, he was lying flat on the ground. Andrea was by his side, panting hard. 

“Thanks, girl,” he said as he gave her a pat. 

_“You!”_ Kampê snarled. She was backing away now, body pressed against the far end of the courtyard. She drew two scimitars with blades that glowed pale green with dripping poison. _“Why do you smell like the abyss?”_

The abyss?

“You mean Chaos?”

She hissed at him. And if Percy didn’t know any better, he’d say she was getting defensive. Her wings were pinned to her back, a scorpion tail he hadn’t seen before poised over her head. 

Percy pressed a hand to his cheek as he found Riptide laying on the floor in front of him. He reached for it, then caught a glimpse of himself in the blade’s reflection. He lowered his other hand, examining his blood in the dim light. From one angle, his blood looked red. From another, it shimmered gold. 

Percy looked to Kampê. She was watching him closely. And for a moment, neither of them moved. Not even the hellhounds attacked.

 _“What are you?”_ Kampê asked.

Percy almost laughed. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

To his surprise, Kampê put her weapons away. She approached slowly, stopping several yards away but still too close for comfort. Once again, she lowered her human half almost to the ground to look at him. 

_“You… you could not possibly be the offspring of Tartarus. I would know it.”_

“I’m not,” Percy agreed. He really wanted to back away from her, but was afraid any sudden movements would make her attack.

Her eyes narrowed. _“But you can comprehend the ancient tongue. The primordial language that existed only before all others.”_

Percy frowned at her before he realized she wasn’t actually speaking English. She hadn’t been this entire time. Kampê was using some language that exuded an aura of antiquity. 

“I… I can.” Percy said. 

Kampê huffed at him. “Are you here to test me?”

“Test _you?”_

Without warning, Kampê grabbed him. Andrea snarled and lunged at her as Kampê climbed over catwalks to the highest floor.

“Hey! Put me down!” Percy shouted. 

Kampê did so, setting him down in front of a cell. Inside, Percy could see just one person. Except this guy had way too many arms. There were dozens, sprouting from all around his torso and rippling like an anemone. Some clutched at his face, some clawed at the walls. Others looked like they were playing rock, paper, scissors with each other. 

_“Behold,”_ Kampê said proudly, _“my prisoner, as he was in the ancient times. Briares, the Hundred-Handed One!”_

Briares cowered in the corner of the cell, looking not at all like a prisoner Percy would be particularly proud of. But he did feel bad for the guy. Kampê was one of the baddest of the bad back in the day, he wouldn’t have been too happy about seeing her again either. 

_“Soon, his will shall be broken and he too will pledge allegiance to Kronos,”_ Kampê said. 

_Shit._ So that was why Kampê was here. Percy had to assume he was somewhere in the mortal world then, which meant Kampê was brought from Tartarus to serve Kronos. He didn’t think she’d be cool with him asking to free her only prisoner, but that gave Percy an idea. He turned to her. 

“So you spend all your time here, tormenting him?”

 _“Tormenting_ and _torturing,”_ Kampê corrected, _“there is a difference.”_

“Right.” He said. “And, just to refresh my memory, where are we exactly?”

Kampê dismissed him with a wave. _“Some place in the mortal world, not far from Mount Othrys. Alcatraz, I believe it’s called.”_

Percy’s eyes widened. That was on the other side of the fucking country. And he got here in less than an hour? He couldn’t imagine what Luke or his forces could do with that sort of speed on their side. 

He glanced toward Briares, who was watching him now between the gaps in his fingers. 

Percy asked Kampê, “And… and Kronos assigned you personally to guard Briares?”

_“Indeed!”_

Percy was starting to put the pieces of a plan together, one he hoped would make Annabeth proud. 

“So you must be really good at your job. I mean, look at him! He looks awful-” Percy silently apologized to Briares, “-truly, he seems like he’s having a terrible time being tortured and tormented here.”

Kampê’s wings flared as she preened. _“Oh, it’s nothing really. It’s in my blood.”_

Percy nodded. “So let me ask you something. You’re clearly qualified for the job. Overqualified, if you ask me. And I bet you’d be awesome in a fight, too. How could you not be? So with all that going on... why would Kronos want Briares when he already has you?”

Kampê’s smile fell in an instant. Her wings folded against her back. 

_“Well, clearly Kronos wants two important allies rather than one,”_ she said.

“So you’re admitting Briares is just as strong as you?”

 _“Never!”_ She hissed, _“I am unmatched in the horror I strike into the hearts of men and gods alike! Did you know that when Zeus first saw me, even_ he _shivered in fear?”_

Percy put his hands up and backed away. His thighs hit something soft and he realized one of the hounds had shadow travelled up behind him. He didn't dare take his eyes off of Kampê. 

“Of course I know, you’re famous for uh, how monstrous you are! So why,” he asked slowly, “...why are you stuck here, guarding just one guy? Surely if Kronos was planning some kind of mega jail for all the gods once he rises, wouldn’t he trust you with that task?”

Kampê was getting agitated now, which Percy couldn’t tell if that was good or bad. Whoever was behind him whimpered and shrunk away. The snakes around Kampê’s legs were nipping and hissing at each other now, the animals bursting out of her waist snarling louder than before. 

_“You, boy, do not anger her further,”_ Briares whispered from inside the cell. 

_“QUIET!”_ Kampê snarled, banging a fist against the wall hard enough to make a crater in the brickwork. Briares went back to trembling quietly. 

She turned her attention to the rows upon rows of empty cells surrounding them. 

Softer than before, she said, _“In the era before the gods, I held hundreds of prisoners. Countless Cyclopes, and all three Hundred-Handed Ones. And all the other enemies of the Titans.”_

Percy had no fucking clue how far he could push his luck, but he was willing to try. 

Ignoring his hammering heart, he said, “I don’t know. It seems to me that Kronos doesn't trust you with anything actually important. Besides, all the famous enemies of the Titans are walking free right now. But if it’s prisoners you want, I know someone who’s got loads of enemies they want put away.”

Her eyes darted toward him. _“Who?”_

Percy swallowed. “The gods.”

Kampê was studying him so intently, Percy was sure she was trying to kill him with a look. Her hand closed around him, and Percy let her. She brought him to eye-level with her. 

_“Child, I will not bow before any being lesser than myself. Nor will I grovel before the gods of all beings. I would not even bow for Kronos himself-”_

_Probably why he doesn’t trust you,_ Percy thought. 

_“-if he cannot prove his strength and promise me the prisoners I crave. But_ you,” she said, _“you are of blood more ancient than his. Even my own.”_

Kampê brushed the flat side of her thumb against his cheek, the pad of her finger coming away reddish-gold with his blood. 

_“I have a reckoning with Kronos to tend to. But if it is my loyalty you seek, you will have to prove yourself first.”_

Percy’s eyes widened. He was just thinking of making Kampê doubt Kronos, or at the very least getting out of Alcatraz alive. He wasn’t implying he needed his own jailer. But Kampê set him down without hurting him further and Percy suspected he should be considered lucky for even that. 

“Thanks. Um, I’ll be back when I can.”

He glanced at Briares and said, “And I _will_ be back.”

He didn’t linger long enough to see his reaction. Percy grabbed onto the hound behind him, Cass, and travelled to the cell they arrived in. The flash of blue he saw before was the glowing Delta symbol etched into the wall above his head. 

He pressed it and the metal door emerged from the wall. Percy was never so glad to return to a literal unending maze of unknown dangers. He ushered the pack through the door before going in himself. When he sealed the door behind them, it vanished, leaving only a smooth wall behind.

He let out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding and sat on the floor. For a few minutes at least, all Percy did was breathe and try to calm himself. 

Then he rummaged through his backpack until he found a bottle of water. Percy chugged almost half of it in one go. He didn’t know how long he was in the Labyrinth or how long he was with Kampê, but it felt like his nerves were shot. Checking that he had a second full bottle, Percy poured handfuls of water out and used his powers to keep it all pooled in his palm as he let the hounds drink. 

Onyx was taking up most of the hallway leading away from Kampê, though he also lowered his head to lap briefly at Percy’s water. 

“You alright, big guy? She didn’t hurt you?”

Percy didn’t see any gashes in Onyx’s fur, but he was still worried about his hellhound being beat up. 

“Let’s see if we can find a way back to camp,” Percy said. He tucked the empty bottle back into his pack before standing. He figured that if they got to the west coast this easily, they might have a simple enough time getting back to New York. 

He led the way, this time relying on his flashlight rather than straining his eyes. At times, the Labyrinth was a brick tunnel again. At others, the walls were covered in dried vines and the floor was made of earth. And even in other instances, he was in unfinished basements piled with old junk, wine cellars, disused maintenance tunnels, and other mortal structures that must have been swallowed by the Labyrinth over the years. 

A few times, they found some monsters slinking around in the shadows. One was a massive serpent lurking in a pool of water with only a narrow wooden bridge slung over it. But another was a young wyrm, and Percy let the hellhounds have at it. He himself chose to snack on a protein bar. 

When Percy’s feet were beginning to ache and the first set of batteries in his flashlight were starting to flicker, he thought they’d have to make camp to sleep when something caught his eye. A familiar trace of blue. He ran up and, like he was about to make a slam dunk, slapped his palm against the symbol etched into the wall. The brickwork pulled apart to reveal a sloping tunnel made of earth. And above them was sunlight. 

Percy whooped and raced his pack to the exit. 

He came stumbling out in a flurry of fur and excited barking. Putting his flashlight away, Percy was prepared to face anything. From the sight of trees all around them, he wondered if they were in the middle of nowhere. But then he turned around and recognized the structure they climbed out of. 

Zeus’ Fist. Meaning they were back in Camp Half-Blood. Percy got on Onyx’s back and spurred his pack toward the edge of the woods. The first thing he saw was Chiron at the archery range with his mom. 

“Whoa, boy. Slow down,” he said. 

If his mom was here, it had to be Tuesday. Meaning he was only in the Labyrinth for a few days. Not bad, considering how it was supposed to warp time. 

“Mom! Chiron!” he shouted, waving to them. 

His mom was so surprised, she nearly dropped her crossbow. She ran to him as he dismounted, enveloping him in a hug. 

“Oh, Percy. My baby. I was so worried, you have no idea.”

He hugged her back, surprised by her reaction. Did Chiron tell her he was on a mission?

He glanced at Chiron, who at once looked both young and incredibly old. His beard seemed longer than Percy remembered it being, like he’d forgotten to trim it recently.

“My boy, you do not know how relieved I am to know you’re alive.”

Percy frowned. He pulled away from his mom and asked, “I felt like I was only gone for a few hours. Maybe a day at most. How long was down there, Chiron?”

He and his mom shared a look. Then Chiron said, “Percy, you were gone for over a week.”

Percy stared at Chiron, his words not sinking in. He didn’t understand. Camp still looked the same, how could so much time pass?

“T-that can’t be right,” he said. 

His mom was silent. Chiron’s gaze was somber. “I’m afraid so. Come, we must find out what you’ve uncovered about the Labyrinth.”

Percy and his mom shared a look. Chiron allowed them both on his back as he hurried them to the Big House. The pack followed, some not looking too happy to see Percy riding on a centaur’s back. Once they arrived, Percy dismounted and patted Onyx’s side. 

“You’re in charge while I’m busy. Stay here.”

Onyx woofed. Then, one by one, they vanished into the shadows. Percy turned to his mom, finding that she was watching him with watery eyes. He wondered if she even knew where he was these past two weeks. Chiron escorted them to his private office, a place Percy had seldom ever seen before. The walls were covered with old photos of past campers, the bookshelves piled high with tomes and even some scrolls. 

Percy sat down at one of the chairs in front of Chiron’s desk, his mom taking the other. The situation reminded Percy too much of when he used to get in trouble at school. When no one spoke, he realized they were both waiting for him to speak. 

“It really didn’t feel like long," he said, mostly for his mom. He continued, “I couldn’t tell time at all, but I didn’t even get that tired or hungry down there.”

Chiron nodded. “Then you’re extraordinarily fortunate. What did you come across in the Labyrinth?”

Mom reached for him and took his hand in hers. “Percy, please tell me. Were you in any danger?”

His bit his lip, unable to meet her gaze. He didn’t know if he was even comfortable talking about Kampê to Chiron. She knew what he really was, something Percy wasn’t even sure Chiron knew.

“Well, it was mostly dark tunnels. Some monsters. I found an exit and I took it. I wasn’t sure how far I walked, but when I got out, I was in California. On Alcatraz.”

He felt Mom squeeze his hand. 

“You reached the other side of the country?” Chiron asked, eyebrows raised. Percy nodded. 

“I explored a while, then went back. The next exit I found led me back to camp.”

Chiron stroked his beard, lips pressed into a thin line. Percy glanced at his mom. She wasn’t looking at him, instead looking straight ahead. But even from the side, it was clear she would’ve cried if Percy actually told her what he found. 

Chiron said, “This disturbs me, Percy. Not that the Labyrinth could warp time so extensively, but that in over a week you were not able to uncover anything significant. But at least in your absence, I’ve tried conducting some research.”

He touched the thick, leather-bound book on his desk, whose ancient Greek title Percy couldn’t decipher while it appeared upside-down. 

“The Labyrinth may be a means for infiltrating Camp Half-Blood. Not just for reconnaissance, but for an invasion.”

Percy leaned forward, letting go of his mom’s hand. “But there’s no way to navigate it, right?”

“Baby,” Mom spoke up, “don’t you remember the story of the Labyrinth? With Theseus?”

Percy wracked his brain. If he was being honest with himself, some of the myths still got muddled from time to time. 

“He had help, didn’t he?”

Chiron nodded. “He had Ariadne’s enchanted ball of yarn, which could be used to navigate the Labyrinth. Other than that, there is Daedalus' workshop. Believed to be at the heart of the Labyrinth, whoever has access to it has access to the Labyrinth as a whole.”

Percy’s hands curled into fists. He understood. 

“Then as soon as I can, I’m going back in.”

_“Percy!”_

His mom was staring at him now, staring at him with a mix of apprehension and alarm. 

“You can’t. You were there for over a week, you don’t know how long you’ll be down there next time.”

“But is there anyone else that can do it?”

Chiron shook his head, “Clarisse is a brave girl, but not even she is willing to return to its depths. As the summer is still a distant thing, our options are very limited.”

“Then it has to be me,” Percy said. He touched his mom’s arm. “I promise, I’ll try to be safe.”

She didn’t look fully convinced. Neither did Chiron. Percy wondered if they both thought he was just really lucky to come out unscathed, but he knew better. He was never lucky, not with anything. But at the very least, he knew he could do this. 

The meeting continued on for a while longer, with Chiron debriefing Percy on the upgrades to the traps set in the woods and the defenses at the borders. By the time they were done, the winter sun was halfway sunk into the horizon. The sky was a dusty, dark gray when Percy and his mom emerged from the Big House.

Someone was waiting for them on the porch steps. 

“Percy!” 

It was Nico. He threw himself at Percy, burying his face in Percy’s jacket and clinging to him as tight as he could. 

“Oh, uh… hi Nico.”

He patted Nico’s back, wondering if maybe the Ares kids started picking on him with Percy gone. He said something too muffled by Percy’s jacket to be understood. 

“Percy, is this a friend of yours?”

Nico looked up, his eyes rimmed with red, and stared at Percy’s mom. 

Percy glanced between the two of them. He said, “Nico, this is my mom. Mom, this is Nico. He’s new to camp.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re the boy from Maine.”

Nico wiped his eyes. “And you’re the lady that came with Thalia and... and Annabeth.”

Percy didn’t have the energy to unpack what he was witnessing, but he was still curious to know what got to Nico so badly. 

“Mom, do you mind if we talk real quick?” Percy asked, gesturing to himself and Nico.

She shook her head. “No, no. I should actually be going, I have classes in the morning.”

She pulled Percy into a hug, running her hand through his hair. “Be careful, Percy.”

He leaned into her touch. “I will.”

She was so warm. She smiled hesitantly as she left, heading for Half-Blood Hill. Percy forgot himself for a moment as he waved goodbye to her. 

Once she was out of earshot, Nico said, “Your mom is really cool.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Percy cocked his head to the side. “Come on, let’s talk.”

The two of them began walking, Percy choosing the paths that led to the least populated areas of camp. 

“What happened while I was gone?”

“You missed Capture the Flag and I had to learn sword fighting from the Stolls.”

“But what happened with _you?”_ Percy asked. 

Nico stuffed his hands in his pockets, staring at the ground. 

“Nico?”

“Nothing… it’s just that I had some more bad dreams.” Nico shivered, taking a half-step closer to Percy. “I know your mission was probably something important, but I just wished you were here.”

Percy felt a wave of guilt hit him. His bit his lip and came to a stop. Without even knowing it, he realized he took Nico all the way to the beach. The water looked dark navy in the fading light.

“I can’t promise that I won’t have more missions later.”

 _“When?”_ Nico asked, an edge to his voice. 

“I-I can’t say. But I’ll be here for tonight. Promise.”

Nico didn’t look very comforted. Percy turned around and gestured back toward camp. 

“Come on, we’ve got to go to dinner, right?”

“...Right.”

On the way back, a thought came to Percy. 

“Hey, how about tomorrow we do something? Just us?”

Nico’s eyes shined even in the dying light. “What?”

Percy whistled, the wind carrying the sound across the fields. Before too long, some glowing red eyes and black muzzles started peeking out from the shadows. 

“How about we practice some shadow travel?”

Nico, having met the hellhounds before, went up to Ruby and scratched behind her ear. She leaned her head to the side, letting him pet her more. 

“Hellhounds are good at shadow travelling, right?”

“Some of the best,” Percy said. He smiled as he watched Ruby begin to trot alongside Nico. He was glad the other boy was apparently a dog person too. 

Onyx trotted by Percy’s side, eclipsing him in his massive shadow. He felt Andrea’s breath on his neck, keeping just a few paces behind. Though Cass and Theo weren’t as big, both just a bit larger than normal wolves, they still looked giant compared to Nico and Ruby. The three of them were sniffing at Nico’s clothes, curious. Percy wondered if they could tell he was a kid of Hades. 

Another part of him wondered if it would hurt to leave some of his pack with the camp while he was gone. He could train them to protect the borders, or at the very least keep Nico company. His mind wandered back to Kampê and how she probably could have easily killed one of them if she wanted to. Percy had complete faith in his hellhounds, but the idea of any of them dying for him made his stomach churn. 

But those were all worries for another time. For now, he just wanted a hot meal and a long sleep. And somehow, that night was the first in a long time he had multiple bunkmates. 

The other campers got used to his hellhounds fast enough, though Clarisse had a hand on her dagger the entire time she ate dinner. Percy supposed they had enough time for the shock to wear off after plenty of nights full of howling. That, or maybe the shock of seeing Percy in one piece outweighed the hellhounds. That night, Percy let the hounds small enough to sleep inside his cabin do so. Theo stretched out on the bunk closest to the door, tongue lolling from one side of his mouth. Cass chose to sleep on a pile of spare blankets by the water fountain. Ruby slept spread out across his legs while Onyx and Andrea slept outside. 

In the middle of the night, Percy heard a knock at his door. And that was how he ended up with Nico sleeping above him, Ruby shadow travelling to sleep in his bunk. 

Percy spent more than two years alone in his cabin, save for the time he had Tyson. It was almost overwhelming, having so much life in his cabin other than himself. But at the same time, it was comforting to hear the rustle of blankets or the puffs of hellhound breathing over the ringing in his ears. 

When his whole body relaxed and Percy found himself falling into a dream, he wondered where his mind would spit him out. It turned out, he didn’t have to wait long. Wherever he was, it was raining outside. The shadows seemed to swallow the feeble lights coming off the candles set around the room. Percy recognized the architecture made of black marble and jagged gravel. He was back on Mount Othrys. Except now, it was really starting to look like an inverse of Olympus. Tall buildings with columns made of glistening black obsidian and a sky made of churning clouds created a place even more foreboding than the underworld. 

More of the place came into focus. He was in some large room, half hewn from stone and half still forming. A hulking figure towered over him, making Percy instinctively reach for Riptide. 

It was Kampê, snakes snarling as she bared her teeth. 

_“You’ll do well to remember I do not like to be kept waiting. I am not some petty beast born from the follies of man. Gods and Titans alike tremble before me.”_

Percy edged around her until he could see who she was talking to. There, on a black throne made of stone and crimson silk, was Luke. He was alive, but he looked terrible. His skin was pale, his eyes lacking the clear focus Percy was used to seeing from him. 

_“And I told you, you’ll get your reward for pledging your allegiance to my Lord,” he said._

Kampê snarled. _“Words mean little to me. I want action. I want enemies to conquer.”_

Percy felt like this wasn’t the first time they were having this conversation. He wondered what happened while the Labyrinth warped his sense of time. He watched as Luke’s grip on his armrests tightened, but he showed no outward reaction to Kampê’s hostility. 

_“Prove yourself reliable first, Kampê. There’s nothing more I can tell you.”_

Wow, Percy didn’t envy Luke’s position at all. He watched as Kampê’s wings flared. She bared her teeth at Luke and said, _“Fine then. If Kronos will not see me as I deserve, then I know of another who could benefit from my services.”_

At that, Luke’s eyes widened. 

_“What are you talking about?”_ He asked. 

But Kampe only turned, her scorpion tail sweeping across the floor. From over her shoulder, she said, _“Loyalty is a fickle thing, boy. Especially among beings as ancient as myself. You will regret your choice tonight.”_

Before Luke could try to stop her, Kampê took off. 

Now, it was only Percy and Luke. Instead of being angry, and Percy almost wished he’d get mad, Luke only breathed a quiet sigh. He seemed almost relieved. 

Confident that he couldn’t be detected, Percy approached the throne. Luke’s ancient Greek _chiton_ shimmered pale while in the low lighting. Percy squinted, willing the darkness to ebb away as he focused on Luke’s face. There was something about him that didn’t seem quite right. It was his eyes, maybe. Up close, they didn’t look hollow like Luke was tired. They almost reminded Percy of when he first found Luke struggling to hold up the sky. It was like another impossible burden was on his shoulders again. It made Percy’s stomach churn. A part of him knew he couldn’t afford to give Luke any sympathy. Another part just felt sorry for him. 

His confusing clash of emotions lingered even as his eyes opened and he woke to the morning light back inside of camp. 

* * *

“Don’t be afraid of the lurch in your gut,” Percy said, “That’s how you know you’re doing it right.”

Nico shook his head from where he sat on the ground. He was heaving in shallow breaths, hair hanging in his face. 

They were by the beach now, early in the morning and away from prying eyes or curious nymphs. The shade from a dead oak tree and the slight slope beneath it made for a great shadow for Nico to try jumping back and forth from. The hounds were pacing the area, ears pinned back and alert for anyone approaching. 

“How do you do this more than once… without barfing?”

Percy walked over to Nico and held out the bottle of water he’d been carrying in the crook of his arm. Nico took it and drank some more. 

“Practice. But maybe you just need some help.”

Percy whistled, catching Ruby’s attention. She trotted over, immediately nosing at Nico’s neck and hair. 

“This time, hold tight onto her and let her do the travelling for you.”

Nico pushed himself to his knees, wrapping his arms round Ruby’s neck. Percy whistled, nudging Ruby forward. She barked, vanishing with Nico in a flurry of black. The next moment, the shadows under the tree darkened and solidified. The two of them came tumbling out, Nico rolling across the sand while Ruby stood next to him. Her tail wagged as she licked his face. 

Percy wondered how long it would take Nico to get used to the feeling. Being a son of Hades, Percy hoped this would be a good way for Nico to escape dangerous situations. But at the same time, he couldn’t imagine trying to master shadow travel at age ten. He squatted down next to Nico, who looked like he was in no shape to stand, let alone go another round. 

“Keep trying, alright? I’ll leave Ruby with you while I’m gone.”

“Gone?” Nico repeated. “Where are you going?”

Percy wished he could say. “Chiron wants me to go on another mission. Hopefully I’ll be back sooner than before.”

Nico grabbed him, startling Percy. 

“Please don’t go.”

“Wh-”

“Percy,” Nico pleaded, “Please don’t go. My dreams are getting worse, and you’re the only person I can talk to about them.”

Percy furrowed his brows, “What do you mean?”

“It’s like,” Nico made a nonsensical gesture with his hands, “I don’t know. All I dream about are ghosts. A-and some of them keep trying to tell me they can help me…”

Nico’s lower lip trembled, “...They say I can bring back my sister.”

Something cold coiled in Percy’s gut. He really didn’t want to be the one to tell Nico that he couldn’t bring people back from the dead. Percy himself failed to even return his mom from the Underworld.

“Look, Nico. It’s normal for demigods to have weird dreams. And I’m really sorry, but I don’t think you should trust those ghosts. Especially not if they promise something big like that.”

Nico looked like he was about to cry. Percy felt even worse. He stood and offered Nico his hand.

“If you want, I can leave some of the hounds with you while I’m gone.”

Nico took his hand but didn’t say anything else. 

* * *

The night before he was supposed to start his second expedition, Percy called his mom to tell her where he’d be. She knew he could come back if he died, but she still sounded nervous as she wished him good luck and goodnight. That same night, Nico slept in his cabin again, curled up on the bunk above Percy with Ruby. 

The next morning, before Nico could wake up, Percy quietly got dressed and grabbed the backpack he prepared the day before. He slipped outside and nudged Onyx and Andrea awake. 

“Come on, you two. It’ll just be us this time.”

Onyx woofed while Andrea shook the light dusting of snow from her fur. Percy climbed on Onyx’s back and together, they made their way toward the woods. Percy didn’t even want to wake Chiron to tell him he’d be going early, just in case any of the other hounds noticed their absence. 

He led them to the entrance of the Labyrinth before dismounting. Percy slipped between the boulders and slid down the decline until he hit the bottom. The shadowy corridor shivered and morphed as Onyx and Andrea appeared next to him. 

Percy flicked on his flashlight, finding themselves in a massive tunnel that looked like a disused highway. The asphalt floor was two lanes wide, the graffiti-decorated cement walls curving up to reveal broken fluorescent lights. 

“Huh, we might end up even closer to civilization than before,” he said. He also hoped there’d be no stray cars driving by to run them over. 

Choosing to go left at random, Percy led his two hellhounds onward. Unlike last time, there were moments where something would catch the hounds’ attention and one or both would race off into the darkness beyond Percy’s flashlight. The first time it happened, Percy shouted for them to come back. They dad, but it didn’t prevent them from doing so again a few minutes later. Sometimes, Andrea would trail off to the side to sniff at the ground and at others, Onyx would paw at the walls. 

Percy didn’t think hellhounds could get claustrophobic or scared of the dark, so there had to be something making them antsy. He just hoped it wasn’t Kampê again.

Remembering the ways the Labyrinth tried to trick him before, Percy said, “I hope it doesn’t lead us anywhere new this time.”

Just like before, the Labyrinth began changing, the cement and asphalt giving way to a more narrow tunnel made of tiled floors and brick walls. Percy wondered if maybe the Labyrinth was just gullible, or if he’d somehow found a way to control it. 

The words of Chaos echoed in the back of his mind, something about making, well, chaos here. With that in mind, Percy swapped his flashlight for Riptide, relying on his enhanced vision to see in the dark. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, a shiver running down his spine as a cold wind blew past them. Percy raised his sword, Andrea at his side and Onyx at his back. Their tunnel ended with a stone staircase leading upward, not looking at all like it belonged in a modern tunnel. 

“Let’s go,” he said. 

They started climbing. Percy couldn’t tell how far up it went, but after reaching maybe thirty or forty feet above ground level, he heard shouts and felt a faint rumble coming from a distance. Andrea snarled, hackles raised. Onyx lowered himself and Percy climbed on his back.

Together, he and Andrea took off. The shouts were getting louder, turning into the familiar snarls and grunts of monsters. The stairs levelled off into a flat landing. And maybe fifteen yards ahead of them was a wide open archway letting in pale gray light. 

They approached the exit and Percy blinked at the sight before him. He was standing on a tall hill bathed in dim evening (or morning?) light, a cluster of several dozen monsters charging down the hundred or so yards of hill toward… 

For a second, Percy got hit by a sense of déjà vu. He could have sworn he saw this place before, maybe from a dream. Below him was a place he almost mistook for Camp Half-Blood. It was close enough, being a camp in a valley about to be attacked by monsters. But everything else about it was wrong. The valley was huge, at least a few miles wide. Percy thought he saw a large town in the distance, but right below him at the base of the hill was _a different camp._

Protected on the side facing the hill by a small river, the camp was enclosed by earthen walls and barbed wire, guard towers at each of the four corners. Most of Camp Half-Blood probably could have fit inside it. Harpoons and arrows rained down from the watchtowers and onto a group of monsters already at the walls. 

There were people in armor on the ground, maybe a dozen more emerging from an entrance to the encampment bearing swords and shields. But without help, they’d be in serious danger. 

“Go!” Percy shouted, spurring Onyx forward. His hellhound raised his head in the air and let out a long howl before tearing down the hill. Andrea sprinted ahead of them, almost gliding across the shadowy hill to the group of monsters. She leaped, snatching away a smaller monster before disappearing into the shadows to finish it off. 

By then, some of the monsters in the rear noticed the massive hellhound approaching. Some cheered, but others realized he had a demigod on his back. Just before Onyx plowed into the group, Percy jumped off his back. In a move he perfected with his pack, he slashed the throat of a particularly large cyclops, sending it scattering in the wind with a puff of golden dust. 

He was in the thick of it now, diverting plenty of attention away from the encampment. Bad news was that he didn’t have any armor and was being weighed down by his backpack. But at least he had Onyx at his back and trusted Andrea to be ambushing monsters somewhere else. 

Percy blocked the blow from another cyclops, this one well over seven feet tall. He collapsed to one knee, rolling to the side to keep from being decapitated, then slashed at the cyclops’ ankles. He managed a clean slice, sending the cyclops to the ground just in time to be crushed beneath Onyx’s front legs.

From somewhere to his right, he heard a battle cry. From the corner of his eye, he saw a phalanx approach, shields locked and spears bristling over their tops. 

Percy narrowly avoided being gutted by a dracaena’s spear and decided this fight needed to end quickly. He reached out with his senses, feeling the fast moving water of the nearby river. He reached out with his hand and closed his fist. With a grunt, he heaved his arm over his head like he was dragging something heavy behind him. For a second, the roar of rushing water swallowed the sounds of battle. The dim light was eclipsed by a massive shadow, a wave over twenty feet tall rearing its head like a snake. 

Percy punched his arm forward, the wave following the motion as it swept across the field. It cut a line nearly ten feet wide through the horde of monsters, though Percy tried to not catch any people or his hounds in his wave. 

The monsters caught in the water were swept into the river. Percy heaved as the weight of controlling so much water built up like a pressure in his chest. He sent the monster smashing against the shallow river bottom, some bursting into dust on impact. Others were pinned in place, thrashing to escape. 

Someone else shouted and a volley of arrows flew from over his head. The rest of the monsters went up in an explosion of gold. 

Percy didn’t lower his guard. There were still a handful of monsters left, though they were making a retreat back toward the Labyrinth. A few harpoons launched from the guardtower, one even exploding on impact, made quick work of them. 

Percy was just about to lower his sword when he heard more shouting and footsteps behind him. He turned, watching as someone armed with a sword tried attacking Onyx. His hound barked and backed away, knowing from his time in camp to not attack humans. 

“Hey! Leave him alone!” Percy shouted. He broke into a sprint, the remaining puddles of water and dew on the ground solidifying under his feet. He glided the remaining few yards down the slope to intercept the person trying to hack at Onyx’s legs. 

“They’re with me! Don’t attack the hellhounds!” He shouted. 

When their swords collided, Percy felt a massive jolt rip through his body. He staggered backward, sword arm limp at his side. Gritting his teeth, he was reminded of all the times he tangled with Clarisse’s electric spear. Or Thalia’s powers. 

He’d just been electrocuted. 

The person who shocked him lowered his sword, though his posture indicated he was still on guard. Sparks flew off of not only his sword, but his armor. His _golden_ armor. 

“Who,” Golden Guy said, “are you?”

Percy took a quick look at his surroundings. The field was quiet now, but almost two dozen teenagers in similar golden armor were all watching him. He had no idea where he was, but he felt on edge. The whole situation was just _wrong,_ somehow. 

He shifted his attention back to the guy that tried to hurt Onyx. “My name’s Percy. Who are you? And where am I?”

Golden Guy studied him for a moment, then removed his helmet. Percy blinked, his gut reaction being _Luke._

But no, looking closer, this guy clearly wasn’t Luke. His hair was as golden as his armor and his eyes were a bright, bright blue. Almost cyan. And he looked like he was no older than Percy. 

“My name is Jason, former Centurion of the Fifth Cohort and present Praetor of Camp Jupiter.”

Percy gawked at him. He wondered if it was the remnants of adrenaline making him mishear or imagine things, but he swore Golden Guy Jason’s title was _latin_ (thanks to Chiron for the lessons) _,_ that his fifth whatever was distinctly a _Roman_ thing _,_ and that _Camp Jupiter_ was not only another camp but one noticeably not named Camp _Zeus._

“Uh,” he said, “that’s cool, I guess.”

Honestly, Percy just had no idea what to make of Golden Jason or any other part of his situation. He glanced around the field, looking for Andrea. Percy whistled. The shadows made by the earthen ramparts rippled and Andrea came out. She was limping and panting hard, a bloody gash in her hind leg. 

A few people screamed, readying swords or spears when Percy said, “She’s also with me.”

Andrea hurried over to her and Percy patted her muzzle. He bit his lower lip, afraid she was hurt badly. 

“So… you have pet hellhounds,” Jason said. 

Percy took a step forward, keeping both hellhounds behind them. “They’re more like my friends.”

Jason looked him up and down, taking in the sight of Percy’s bronze sword. 

“Well, you’re clearly a demigod. So welcome to Camp Jupiter.”

The gut instinct Percy had intensified, making him feel even more on edge. “You’re also a demigod?”

Jason nodded, “I am.”

Though he didn’t say who his parent was. To be fair, neither did Percy. He turned to Andrea to survey her wound. Thankfully, the cut was long but not very deep. So long as she stuck to the shadows for a while, she’d be fine. 

“You two stay out here, I’ll call if I need you.”

Onyx growled, not taking his eyes off of Jason. Percy didn’t blame him for being uneasy. 

“Go on, go. I’ll be fine,” Percy said, nudging Onyx away. Reluctantly, he disappeared into the shadows with Andrea following after him. Then it was just Percy and the few dozen or so other kids. 

Jason’s lips were pressed in a tight line. “Come on, then.”

Some of the kids (campers?) regarded Percy with blatant distrust. Some with blatant awe. Both made Percy uneasy, so he stuck to Jason’s side as, against every instinct, he entered what was apparently Camp Jupiter. 

The ghosts didn’t help make him feel at home. The shimmering figures of deceased people in ancient Roman clothes or armor milled about, though hardly anyone paid them much mind. But when Percy walked by, the ghosts either shrank back or scowled at him. 

“The Lares, the house gods, inhabit the camp. You’ll get used to them,” Jason said. 

Percy nodded, being reminded of a sunny, inverse Underworld. The rest of the place wasn’t that awful. The whole camp seemed to be laid out in a grid pattern, some buildings hosting patios with kids hanging banners or polishing weapons. A few even looked like shop fronts, most of the signs still flipped to _Closed._ But aside from the ghosts, the place was mostly empty. Percy looked up at the sky and saw how it was starting to get brighter. 

“Uh, Jason? Could you tell me the date?”

The other boy replied, giving Percy the same date in which he left Camp Half-Blood. It was still late January then, but it felt far too warm.

Percy swallowed, “And… what year is it?”

Jason blinked at him. He told Percy the year, and thankfully it was still the same as when he entered the Labyrinth. 

“Okay, and this is going to sound really weird, but uh… where exactly is this place? Like what part of the country?”

Jason was staring at him warily now, one hand on his pocket. “Camp Jupiter is in California. San Francisco. How can you _not_ know?”

So that would explain what Percy thought was a lapse in time. It wasn’t anything supernatural, only the difference in time zones. But the way Jason was now regarding him wasn’t like someone who was simply confused. He treated the apparently indisputable, obvious fact that something called Camp Jupiter was in California… as if it should have been common knowledge. 

Percy needed a damn good explanation. Or at least a passable cover. 

“Sorry, I should have known. I’ve been lost in the Labyrinth for a while, so time and space kind of got really weird for me.”

Jason’s bright blue eyes widened. “You’ve been in the Labyrinth? And survived on your own?”

“Well, I had my hellhounds with me.”

Jason ran a hand over his face, eyes distant and reminding Percy of Annabeth when she got lost in thought. 

“You need to speak to the other praetor. And Octavian.”

 _Praetor._ The Latin word floated around in Percy’s head, decoding itself much slower than ancient Greek until he got something like _leader_ out of it. 

Not having much of a choice, Percy followed Jason up to a big, white two-story building that almost reminded Percy of the Big House. Except here, there were white columns and Roman guards out front. 

Inside was a single person behind a long, wooden table brimming with laptops, scrolls, books, and several open cans of Red Bull. A tan girl with braided blonde hair draped over her shoulder looked up at the sound of them entering. She had the same sparkling eyes as the Apollo kids back home. 

“Jason? How did the defenses hold up?” she asked, “And who’s this?”

“The attack was short lived,” Jason hesitated before adding, “thanks to Percy.”

She turned her attention to him. He gave the older teenager a half-hearted wave. 

“Hi.”

Percy ran his tongue over the back of his teeth, needing to remind himself that his fangs weren’t visible anymore. But his white hair would surely raise some curiosity. 

“New recruit?” the girl asked, “Thank the gods. We need all the help we can get. How did you fare getting to Camp? Lupa trained you well, did she?”

Percy’s brows furrowed. He was about to ask _who?_ when there was a series of shouts coming from outside. The doors opened to reveal a guy maybe a few years older than Percy, with pale blond hair and harsh eyes that definitely reminded Percy of Luke. He wore a toga over his ordinary jeans and purple shirt. 

“Where is he?” New Guy asked, eyes glittering and a little manic in a way Percy didn’t like. 

“Octavian,” the girl said, voice not exactly warm. 

Octavian’s eyes landed on Percy. He walked right up to him, circling Percy like a curious wolf. 

“Huh, so this is the wild child? He certainly looks the part.”

A flash of gold caught Percy’s eye and he noticed the polished hilt of a dagger strapped to the guy’s side. 

“You wouldn’t believe some of the stories I’ve woken up to. Campers speaking of the Little Tiber rising up and swallowing the invading monsters. Hellhounds fighting hellhounds, wind spirits lashing out against our adversaries.”

Ocvtavian stopped at Percy’s side, humming. “Now I’m fairly certain that last rumor is false, given your hair color. But the others..?”

Percy resisted taking a step back. 

“Octavian, this is Percy,” Jason said. 

_“Just_ Percy?” 

No way in hell Percy was giving out his last name, just in case these people have heard of him before. 

“Yeah, just Percy,” he confirmed. 

“Interesting. Well,” Octavian clapped his hands in front of him, “I’d be honored to escort you to the temples and read your auguries.”

“My what?”

“Octavian,” Jason said, an edge to his voice. Percy thought it was impressive how Jason sounded so commanding toward someone easily a few years older than him. 

“Your future,” Octavian said, “I’d be honored to foretell your future. Besides, it’s standard procedure for every new recruit, is it not?”

Percy’s brows furrowed. This guy… he couldn’t be like an oracle, could he?

The idea of a living oracle made his head spin. 

“Fine,” the girl said. “Jason, go with Percy and Octavian. I’ll keep researching the Labyrinth.”

Jason nodded, leaving Percy in the unfortunate situation of being flanked on both sides by Luke look-alikes. They made their way toward a small hill crowned with a scattering of temples. All the while, Octavian drilled him with questions. 

“So would you happen to know who your godly parent is already?”

“No.”

“How long have you survived on your own?”

“Long enough.”

“I hear you’ve somehow managed to tame hellhound, something once thought impossible. How did you do it?”

“I fed them. They also like being scratched behind the ears.”

It was a nervewracking endeavor up until they reached a temple with a massive statue of Zeus (Jupiter?) in the center. While Octavian had his back turned, Jason gave him an apologetic smile. It helped remind Percy that, maybe, Jason was human and not some strange fever dream. 

“Here we go…” Octavian said, pulling a stuffed teddy bear from a chest to the side. Percy cocked his head to the side, confused until Octavian dropped the toy onto an altar before the statue of Jupiter and cut its belly open. 

The older teen dumped the stuffing out onto the altar, pressing a hand down on the stuffing. 

“Is this normal?” He leaned over and asked Jason. 

“Pretty much, yeah. Stuffed animals are much easier to manage than live ones.”

Not a second later, the whole temple trembled. Neither Jason nor Octavian thought it was out of the ordinary, but Percy pulled Riptide from his pocket on instinct. Just as he was about to call for his hounds, the shaking stopped. 

Octavian’s shoulders stiffened, arms braced on the altar and head bowed low. 

“Octavian?” Jason asked, “What does it say?”

Percy didn’t know how anyone could make anything out of teddy bear stuffing, but the older boy didn’t respond right away. 

“Percy… _Perseus,”_ he said, voice low. It made Percy’s blood run cold. He tensed, ready to bolt when Octavian turned on his heels. The manic look in his eyes was now smoothed over, almost icy calm and calculating in a way that made Percy wish for the hungry look from before. At least then, he could kind of tell what this guy was thinking. 

“Your real name is Perseus?” Octavain asked. 

He slowly nodded. “I still go by Percy.”

“Perseus,” Octavian said, as if he were testing the sounds on his tongue, “that is a very old Greek name. How interesting.” 

His eyes flickered over Percy’s form. “Tell me, how long did you train with Lupa?”

That name again. 

“I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

Both Jason and Octavian looked surprised. 

“Lupa, the wolf goddess? She’s supposed to train every demigod before they come to Camp Jupiter.” Jason answered, “It shouldn’t be possible for you to have gotten here without finding her first.” 

Percy shook his head. “I… I’ve been on my own. For a long time.”

That cold look in Octavian’s eyes intensified before calming into something more neutral. He said, “Well, regardless of your training, my reading suggests you’d be quite the addition to Camp Jupiter. But only time will tell if my prediction will become true. You’ve given me such an interesting challenge, _Perseus._ I’d like to try seeing more of your future.”

“Thanks, Octavian,” Jason said, “But I still need to show Percy around the rest of camp.”

Percy didn’t need to be told to follow Jason, he’d be happy putting any distance at all between himself and Octavian. 

“Is he always like that?” Percy asked when they were at the bottom of the hill. Jason nodded. 

Great. Percy might have already made enemies in a place where he wasn’t sure he could trust anyone. 

He and Jason walked past an entrance to the camp, a big archway with a stone path leading deeper into the valley. Percy took a look out the archway and did a double take. Less than a mile away was the start of a large town nestled in the lowest region of the valley. He could see red-tiled rooftops and white buildings, some gardens dotted here and there and people going about. 

“What’s that? Another part of the camp?” He asked. 

Jason shook his head. “That’s New Rome, our town. After ten years of service in the Legion, campers usually retire to New Rome to go to college and settle down.”

“Settle down… as in, they live there and have kids?”

Jason nodded. “Some of us in camp are kids of gods, whether major or minor, but most are second or third generation.”

Percy stared at the town in the distance. Out of everything he’d witnessed in the past hour or so, it was this that he just couldn’t comprehend. 

The idea that there was a place where demigods could live to adulthood, hell even to be teenagers, and even have kids of their own. Up until now, the oldest demigod Percy ever knew was Luke. To think there were possibly _eldery_ demigods in the world was just too much to handle. 

“It’s probably hard to imagine after being on your own for a while, but some day you could live there too.”

Jason pointed to a series of big, white buildings at the edge of town. “See that? That’s New Rome University. They’ve got some great athletic facilities if you ever want to use them.”

Percy couldn’t help but compare Camp Jupiter to Camp Half-Blood. The size of this place, the resources they had. The fact that they got to have a lifespan that was, on average, longer than middle school years made jealousy simmer in Percy’s stomach. But he also felt angry. How come the gods never told them about this other camp? 

How come Camp Half-Blood had to defend itself with barely a hundred campers, satyrs, and nymphs combined when this place looked like it had _hundreds_ of inhabitants?

Why were they- the _Greek_ children, apparently- left to essentially fend for themselves when it was possible for them to survive to adulthood all along?

Percy turned to Jason, a thousand more questions on his mind when something caught his eye. It was a black tattoo on Jason’s inner arm, of the letters SPQR and too many thin, horizontal lines to count. 

“You have a tattoo? How old are you?”

“Oh, I’m fourteen. For every year you serve in the Legion, you get a mark. Don’t worry, you’ll start getting yours soon enough.”

Percy realized he’d seen a similar tattoo on Octavian but hadn’t registered what it was. Before he could stop himself, he reached up to touch his necklace. His clay beads were a slight comfort to him.

But Percy knew then that he couldn’t allow himself to join whatever Camp Jupiter was. This wasn’t just another place where he felt like he didn’t belong. This was something earth-shattering, a whole other camp of demigods just like him. And he was already on so many gods’ bad sides, he didn’t want something like a tattoo permanently tying himself to them. 

Besides, Camp Half-Blood needed him. And now he knew it was possible, Percy wanted to fight to ensure they could live to adulthood too.

He bit his lip and said, “Look, Jason… thanks for the offer, but I don’t think this place is for me.”

Jason stared at him. “What do you mean? This is the only safe place for demigods in the world. Where else would you go?”

Percy wondered if he was the only person who knew of both camps. He almost wanted to tell Jason, but a part of him thought that the other wouldn’t believe him. 

Instead, he said, “I’ve got unfinished business in the Labyrinth.”

 _“The Labyrinth?_ You want to go back? Our own forces can barely navigate that thing. If anything, you should stay to train and help us destroy it.”

Percy shook his head. 

“It’s complicated,” he said, “I’m searching for something in there.”

He whistled before Jason could try stopping him. Onyx and Andrea appeared from the shadows, standing at either side of Percy. The few ghosts nearby shouted and grew spectral weapons, but the sparse living campers only watched with awe. Percy climbed on Onyx’s back. 

But before he left, he looked down at Jason and felt something almost like pity. For them, Jason, these other campers, their whole town, there was no such thing as Camp Half-Blood. They had to be lied to as well.

Before he could stop himself, Percy said, “Just so you know… not every demigod goes to train with your Lupa. There’s more kids like me than you think living out there, trying to survive in the world.”

Percy nudged Onyx with his foot, feeling his hellhound getting ready to pounce back into the shadows. Before anyone could stop them, Percy and his hellhounds were engulfed in shadows. 

He assumed it was his natural connection to them that guided Onyx to the mouth of the Labyrinth. Hidden from view, Percy took one last look at the sprawling valley below him. 

By his side, Andrea nudged his hand with her nose. Without looking away, he patted her snout. 

“Camp Jupiter, huh?” He said, more to himself than anyone else. 

He glanced toward Andrea’s hind leg and saw that it still looked tender.

“Let’s get back to Camp Half-Blood,” Percy said, urging Onyx to turn around and head back into the Labyrith. Instead of a staircase, they were met with a long, flat tunnel made of carved earth. 

But even when the light from the California morning vanished from view behind them, Percy couldn’t stop thinking about what he saw. He wondered if Kronos was also attacking Camp Jupiter, and maybe that was why they seemed so prepared for monsters. He should have stayed longer to ask, but a part of him didn’t want to risk it. Besides, he wanted to get Andrea home so she could rest.

* * *

The stories of the new kid, gone as soon as he arrived, spread through the camp like a flash flood. Those awake in the early hours of the morning were quick to brag about how they’d been able to see the elusive kid who was gone by the time breakfast was called. Jason could do nothing to stop it other than refusing to answer questions. 

Some simply refused to believe a kid would willingly leave Camp Jupiter. Some doubted he had hellhounds, because _obviously_ taming monsters was completely impossible. Others refused to believe the reports of how the new kid, Percy, was just… something else. Pure white hair, so pale that it would be unreasonable to believe he’d spend hours and precious money keeping it dyed that way. Green eyes that were turquoise in some lighting and deep, forest green in others. Built like Jason, lean and strong despite his age. Captivating, in a way. Reported ages varied wildly, from twelve to twenty. 

Jason had to hear all of it during morning training drills, all the way up to his private meeting with Julia and Octavian. They were both waiting for him, Octavian pacing restlessly. 

“Jason, Octavian believes he’s found something,” the other praetor said. 

“About the Labyrinth?” Jason asked, hopeful. With monsters able to bypass their magic borders via the Labyrinth, they’d need all the help they could get. 

“No, no. Something potentially more important,” Octavian said. He stopped pacing, “after you left the temple, I continued trying to receive messages from the gods, anything regarding our new friend Perseus.”

Jason resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Alright, and what did you find?”

Octavian cleared his throat, like he was about to give a speech. Jason hoped this wouldn’t be another of his spiels. 

“I found _nothing._ Absolutely nothing, which for an augur of my caliber is incredibly unusual.”

Jason and Julia shared a look. 

“Look, Octavian, thanks but-”

He cut Julia off, “You don’t understand! At first, I thought the hellhounds were a hint he was sent by Lupa, perhaps to test us. But after tearing open more than a few dog plushies, I found nothing. He had white hair and green eyes, so I tried to divine answers by calling upon the likes of Ceres and Aquilon. Also nothing. But it was a _strategic_ nothing. Something purposely obscuring my view.”

“What’s your point?” Jason asked. 

Octavian had that look in his eyes, like he was just itching to rip open a few more stuffed animals. 

“Percy _-Perseus-_ has no traceable, observable lineage. Only the promise of immense power,” Octavian smiled, “He may be testing us for now, but I saw through his ruse.”

Jason’s stomach clenching, thinking of potential spies sent by Saturn’s forces. 

Then Octavian continued, “There is no other explanation. Perseus must be a god in disguise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean it when I said in the past few chapters that my mind was made up about ships. There will be no romantic ships. 
> 
> **Please do not try to ask me about certain pairings at this point, I will not appreciate it.**
> 
> Other than that I really love this AU and hope u do too


	11. imaginary mind, imaginary lines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I’m back and things r gonna get SPiCY I promise u that. 
> 
> also here's my 2 cents: Uncle Rick’s greatest crime was not having more Clarisse. She’s such an underrated character and I love her so much.
> 
> (Title from Labyrinth by Miracle Musical.)

Percy at least had a shred of vital information when he returned to Camp Half-Blood after his second trip into the Labyrinth. No, not that there was a whole other camp full of Roman demigods. No, not that the gods had been lying to both camps about there being only one safe haven for their kind.

As Percy broke through the surface of the earth, finding himself back in  _ his _ camp, he wondered what the fuck he should be doing with this information. Obviously, Camps Half-Blood and Jupiter had been split for a reason. Probably some archaic dumb one, but a reason nevertheless. And since he only narrowly escaped divine execution once, Percy had no idea if revealing what he knew would land him in a similar situation again. 

What he did know was that monsters were attacking Camp Jupiter too, so Luke’s forces were at least somewhat split. But with Camp Jupiter being so close to the Titan’s base of operations, Percy wondered if that put the Roman camp in even bigger danger. 

Percy headed straight for the Big House, not stopping until they reached the front porch. The sun was bright and high in the sky now, but hopefully not much time had passed. He found Chiron in his private office, the door slightly ajar. 

“Percy, is that you? I thought you had gone into the Labyrinth already.”

“I did. I found something big, Chiron.”

He waited for his mentor to react. Chiron set his book aside and rested his arms on the table. 

“Close the door, come tell me what you discovered.”

Percy did so, and sat down across from Chiron. First, he learned that it was still the same day he left Camp Half-Blood, only in the early afternoon now. 

“While I was in the Labyrinth, I came across a huge group of monsters, at least a few dozen, who looked like they were on their way somewhere.” 

Technically not a lie. 

“I’m not sure what it was, Chiron, I couldn’t really follow them. But from what I heard, it sounds like Luke’s definitely still alive and his forces are split between two primary targets.”

Percy waited for Chiron to react. His teacher stroked his beard, looking more aged as he sat in thought. 

“One must be Camp Half-Blood,” he said. 

Percy nodded. “But the monsters I found said something about the west coast. I heard that Kampê was recruited and is in Alcatraz, so maybe their target is in California.”

Percy didn’t want to let on too soon that he found Camp Jupiter. He wanted to give Chiron pieces, to see either if he knew or if he was going to purposely withhold information. 

“Chiron… is there anything you can think of on the west coast? Anything Luke would want to attack?”

The silence stretched between them, putting Percy on edge. He gripped the arms of his chair until, finally, Chiron spoke. 

“Firstly, it concerns me greatly that the likes of Kampê have been brought up from the pit. She is a powerful foe, and there are others just as dangerous as she. But the only location of significance in the west that I can think of is the entrance to the Underworld. Though I find it hard to imagine there’s any worth in attacking there.”

Percy swallowed and nodded, jaw clenched tight. He searched Chiron’s face for  _ anything,  _ but found no trace that his mentor was lying. 

“Percy,” Chiron said, “this is valuable information you’ve brought. I thank you for bringing this to my attention so quickly, but I ask that you not attempt to return to the Labyrinth until the camp as a whole can better prepare. I fear we may need as many as we can have, especially considering that the summer is so far off.”

So he was asking Percy to stay here. Maybe Chiron did know something. Or maybe Percy was just being paranoid. After all, why would Chiron keep the other camp secret? Especially when most campers here seemed to face pretty bad ends fairly often.

“Alright, Chiron. I... uh, if there’s nothing else you need, then I think I want to get some rest.”

Chiron nodded. “Please do, Percy.”

He quickly excused himself. Onyx was laying with his head resting on the front steps of the porch. Andrea was licking at the cut in her side. 

“How are you doing, girl? Does that still hurt?” Percy asked, coming up to her to pat her neck. Andrea woofed and nuzzled against him. It looked like the cut was already healing, the blood flowing much less than before. So long as Andrea kept to the shadows for the rest of the day, the darkness should help her heal. 

“You two get some rest, alright? We already went through a lot today.”

Andrea nuzzled his hand before vanishing into shadows. Onyx got up and padded alongside Percy on his way to his cabin. Halfway there, he walked past the arena and saw Clarisse whacking at some dummies with her spear. 

She turned, as if feeling his eyes on her, and paused. 

“Jackson? You’re back already?”

He nodded. 

Clarisse adjusted the bandana keeping her hair back, her spear propped at her side. She looked like something was bothering her.

“Can we talk?” she suddenly asked. 

Percy blinked, surprised. Then nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

He waited for Clarisse to take off her armor before they started wandering down the path that led to the woods. Clarisse was using her spear like a walking stick, until Percy noticed that there was a slight limp in her leg. A healing injury, probably.

“What’d you find down there this time?” Clarisse asked, “I heard the first time you went in, you got to California in days.”

“Hours,” Percy corrected. “It only felt like hours to me.”

Clarisse huffed. “Lucky. When I was down there, it felt like years.”

The end of her spear hit a rock, the sharp  _ thunk _ jarring in the relative silence. “It’s the lack of light. I couldn’t tell what time or day it was.”

Percy nodded. “Yeah, I got that feeling too. But this time, I was gone for only a few hours and it didn’t feel much longer than that. Though space inside the Labyrinth was completely warped. I ended back up in Cali again.”

Clarisse’ nose wrinkled. She was only a year or two older than Percy, but Clarisse had always seemed so indomitable. Tough as Hades, reaching six feet tall and still growing from what Percy could tell. But now, she had never looked so weary. Dark bags hung under her eyes and her hair was shaved short now, maybe from being so matted from her time in the Labyrinth. They haven’t always gotten along, but Percy felt bad for her. She was down there, all alone and with no backup. And she couldn’t see in the dark, either. 

“Did you try getting any information while you were in California?” she asked. 

“I found out that Luke’s forces are split. I’m guessing they’re planning on attacking our camp, but there’s something else they’re targeting. Something big, and something they need the Labyrinth to reach.”

Clarisse squinted at him.  _ “Our _ camp?”

Fuck. Clarisse was no Athena kid, but when it came to war, nothing slipped past her. “Yeah, I mean Camp Half-Blood. Obviously. But I didn’t get to find out the other place they’re trying to find.”

“Could be Daedalus’ workshop,” Clarisse said, “supposedly there’s all sorts of weapons and shit in there. Maps, maybe.”

“Maybe,” Percy agreed. 

Actually, that made sense. If Luke was trying to weaken Camp Jupiter because they were so close, but was also probably planning on attacking Camp Half-Blood, but  _ also _ needed to know how to navigate the Labyrinth, then that meant Kronos’ armies were even more divided than Percy originally thought. 

He and Clarisse were well within the woods now, their conversation somewhat covered by the sound of the babbling creek. It was then that Clarisse stopped and turned to face him. It was so sudden, he nearly walked into her. 

“Percy,” she said, using his actual name, “Listen. There’s something I want to ask you.”

He suddenly got a bad feeling in his gut, not just because Clarisse wasn’t one to ask for anything, but also just by seeing the look on her face. She seemed pensive, grinding the end of her spear into the frost-covered dirt. 

“I didn’t want people finding out, but when I went into the Labyrinth, I found someone. You remember Chris Rodriguez?”

Percy’s brows furrowed. The last he ever saw of Chris was on Luke’s cruise ship, after he turned traitor. 

“What about him?”

Clarisse frowned, not from anger but from something else. Something that was bothering her really badly. 

“I found him. He was wandering around Texas, near where my mom lives. And he was driven completely insane.” She gestured with her spear in the general direction of the Big House, “I brought him back, but since Mr. D is away on orders from Olympus, there’s not really a way to cure his madness yet.”

A faint memory surfaced in the back of Percy’s mind. When Clarisse came back from her mission, she briefly asked Chiron about a  _ him.  _

Clarisse shook her head, “There’s no getting through to him, he’s terrified of the dark but also refuses to go outside. He’s just- it’s like he’s just  _ broken.” _

“Clarisse..?”

She grabbed him by the shoulder and squeezed. Percy’s eyes widened, not at all used to any physical contact from Clarisse not hurting.

“You don’t know the rumors going on about you, Jackson. Some say you came back from the dead, others say you did  _ things _ to look more normal. But I don’t give a shit about any of that.”

Clarisse gave him a slight shake. 

“I haven’t forgotten the huge solid you did for me on my quest to the Sea of Monsters. You’re really valuable for the camp, Percy. And even if I  _ have _ given you a lot of shit in the past, we can’t afford for you to... to end up like Chris.”

Percy was quiet, a thousand different things he wanted to say or ask getting stuck in his throat. Clarisse pulled her hand away and adjusted her bandana.

“You got that, Jackson?”

Percy swallowed. “So you’re asking me to not go back?”

Clarisse tilted her chin up a few centimeters, looking much more like herself. “I’m saying that with Annabeth and Thalia both gone to the Hunters, and with summer still months away, that if anything goes to shit we’re going to need all the help we can get.”

If they were anything like Camp Jupiter, they’d be a lot better off. But since it was just a dozen year-rounders here, Percy felt torn. He wanted,  _ needed, _ to learn more about Camp Jupiter and Kronos’ plans, and he was probably still the best choice for expeditions into the Labyrinth. But on the other hand, he didn’t want to make it feel like he wasn’t actually here helping. 

“Alright,” Percy said, “besides, we don’t have any way of controlling the Labyrinth either. Until we get a better idea of what we’re dealing with, I’ll stay.”

Clarissed breathed a sigh of relief. She nodded. “Good. Well, I’m going back to training.”

She hurried off, leaving Percy by the river. But before disappearing from view, she turned back and said, “Also, Jackson. Your mom is pretty cool. So don’t do anything that would upset her, got it?”

Percy nodded. And without another word, Clarisse left. Though Percy didn’t feel the need to follow after her. Instead, he stewed in his thoughts as he took the scenic route around a bend in the river further into the woods before winding his way back to the cabins. 

Ruby, Theo, and Cass greeted him, sniffing his clothes and following him into his cabin. Nico was missing, but it made Percy feel a tiny bit relieved as he changed into clean clothes and fell onto his bunk. He didn’t think he was tired enough for a nap, but being sandwiched between two hounds with Ruby at his feet made him want to close his eyes. 

He was dreaming soon after. 

The world stitched itself out of nothing, blackness giving way to columns and walls building themselves up until Percy was standing in a massive empty chamber. It felt like a tomb with its oppressive air and low lighting, but he knew he was back in the Labyrinth. 

“Why do you keep bringing me back here?” Percy asked. 

A voice laughed. 

_ Isn’t a setting you’re more familiar with comforting to converse in? _

Percy frowned. “Yeah, but why this one? Why not anywhere else?”

Chaos hummed.  _ Perhaps because I feel a sort of kinship with this little Labyrinth. It lives in a similar way to myself, divorced from the need of blood or bone like humans do. I can feel it in you, my child, that you also feel a connection to this place.  _

Percy took a step back. “I don’t know what you mean.”

_ Is your goal not to explore? The Labyrinth can give you dungeons full of enemies, provide you with ancient curses, and much more. But you have a different want in your heart. A want that is currently sowing, and excuse my language, a great deal of chaos within the world.  _

“Haven’t I already been doing that?”

Chaos laughed.

_ Oh, my child. There is so little about your world that you understand. Your Greek camp and your Roman siblings have been separated for many thousands of years, kept from each other by the gods themselves. _

Percy frowned. “Why, though? We would be better off if we had each other for support.”

If Camp Half-Blood had the type of backing Jupiter did, that was. 

_ Your gods are far more fragile than they want you to think. They like to keep their Greek and Roman identities separated, though I find it a rather foolish endeavor.  _

Chaos paused for a moment, as if pondering something. 

_ Though they do not yet know of your exploits, I imagine the uncovering of your Roman counterparts will begin bridging the gap that the Olympians have been desperate to maintain. That will surely cause them some headaches, complicating their war preparations.  _

Percy inhaled sharply. He ran a hand through his hair, twisting it in his pale white locks. About a hundred different thoughts tried to fit in his head. But it wasn’t actually the gods he was scared for. It was Camp Half-Blood and Nico. Clarisse and Silena and Beckendorf. Annabeth and Thalia. His mother, who was now deeply entrenched in his life.

“So I really can’t go back into the Labyrinth then. I can’t afford to find Camp Jupiter again.”

_ Is that so?  _ Chaos asked. 

Without warning, the Labyrinth began crumbling away, walls revealing Camp Jupiter in the midst of an attack. Percy staggered back, the clash of dozens of different swords and shields ringing in his ears. But it was night, and Percy knew he went to sleep in the afternoon. 

_ Come sunset in exactly seven days, your sibling camp will be under siege once more.  _

A burst of bright white light made Percy flinch. 

_ And should they fall, your Camp Half-Blood will be Kronos’ next priority. _

Percy squinted against the dark, spotting a glowing figure several yards away. Bolts of lightning, just like Thalia’s, arched off their sword and armor. No monster dared to go within ten feet of them, but the figure was fast, cutting through foes while blasting others. 

And it wasn’t just the sword or armor. Percy knew what enchanted weapons looked like, and what it looked like for a person to actually summon lightning. Thalia’s lightning lit up her eyes, just like this person was. 

Another child of Zeus. Or rather, Jupiter. 

The realization made Percy’s blood freeze in his veins despite every instinct of his wanting to draw his sword and fight. He sprinted for the figure, dodging monsters even though he was sure they couldn’t hurt him while he was dreaming. 

He stopped in front of the other demigod just in time for him to narrowly block the blow from a cyclops’ club. The impact still sent them staggering backward, though the cyclops fared much worse. 

The lightning dancing across their armor dimmed just enough for Percy to see their eyes. Their cyan colored eyes. 

_ Jason.  _

Thalia had a brother. 

But more importantly, another kid of the Big Three meant Percy might not actually be the subject of the Great Prophecy after all. Though as much as he knew it might kill him, Percy had wanted to be the subject so Nico could be spared from it. But all this time, maybe the stupid prophecy wasn’t meant for either of them. 

Then the scene shifted again. The sounds of war were fading fast, giving way to the crackle of a fire and the sound of wind. Percy was back in the temple at Camp Jupiter, though it was daytime now. 

_ Watch the calm before the storm.  _ Chaos said.

This was happening in real time? Or was some other time before the attack?

Either way, another blond guy -unmistakably Octavian- was standing over a bronze brazier. Gutted plushies and piles of stuffing laid around his feet. Octavian was muttering something too faint for Percy to hear. 

He stepped closer, circling the brazier until he saw the older boy’s face. In Octavian’s hands was a plate piled with meat and cheese. He scraped the whole thing into the fire. Percy took a step back as the flames jumped a few feet in the air, writhing and churning before dying down. 

“Perseus,” Octavian said, louder now. _ “Perseus...” _

The fire was like those at Camp Half-Blood. It smelled exactly like perfectly cooked steak and fresh cheese. 

_ I have faith that with the knowledge you now have, you will be able to act accordingly. Goodbye, my child. _

“Wait, I-”

Percy wanted answers. He wanted to know if Jason was the true child of the Great Prophecy. He wanted to know if he should stay at Camp Half-Blood or try to go back. But the world and all its sights and sounds were melting fast. 

Percy opened his eyes and inhaled. He was back in his cabin. He sat up, head spinning as he could still smell the smoke and food from Octavian’s fire. But the strangest thing was, Percy swore he could taste rare steak and goat’s cheese on his tongue. Faint, but there. 

He was probably just hungry. But he was in no mood to venture outside for something to eat, his thoughts occupied by Jason and what Chaos told him. Percy reached under his bunk and grabbed at his secret stash of chips. 

He wished he had someone he could talk to. Annabeth, if she was here, would have been the perfect confidant. But once again, it looked like he was on his own. 

Percy climbed out of bed and staggered to the door. He wanted to head for the arena, or maybe take his hounds into the woods for some training. Anything to help take his mind off of everything. 

To his surprise, he found Nico talking to Hestia by the fire in the center of the cabins. Nico spotted him and got up, running toward Percy. 

“Percy! What happened? When did you get back?”

“Uh, hi Nico,” Percy said. He glanced toward Hestia, though she looked more amused by Nico’s sudden departure than annoyed. Good. He gave her a small smile before turning his attention back to Nico. 

“It was a short mission this time. I had to come back for reasons.”

“What kind of mission was it?” Nico asked. 

Percy frowned, knowing he couldn’t tell Nico. But at the same time, he didn’t want the other to feel left in the dark. Percy gestured over his shoulder. 

“Come on, I think I should tell you some things.”

Nico’s eyes lit up as they returned to Percy’s cabin. He sat down on his bunk and Nico sat down across from him. 

“So you’ll tell me about where you’ve been going?” 

Percy rubbed the back of his neck. “Not exactly. There are a few things Chiron wants to keep secret. But you deserve to know what’s really going on, in case things go bad in the future.”

Nico didn’t need to know about Percy’s whole past or his experiences with Chaos, but he should be told about the same amount that most other year-rounders and even other campers knew. So Percy explained to Nico who Luke was, a former counselor at camp who turned traitor. He explained how Luke had stolen Zeus’ master bolt and poisoned Thalia’s old pine tree the year after, and how Percy had to go on quests to resolve both issues. 

“So there’s a war going on? With gods and Titans?” Nico asked.

Percy nodded. “Chiron’s been sending me on missions to try and fix an issue with the camp, but I’ve been told to stay here for now.”

Nico studied him, completely quiet. Percy had sort of hoped Nico would be happy that he was staying, but the other boy had a strange look in his eyes. Nico brushed the stray locks of dark hair from his face. 

“But you’re not actually going to stay, are you?”

Percy blinked. “What would make you think that?”

Nico made a gesture with his hands. “You’ve been through too much to just  _ not _ do anything now. You left this morning without saying goodbye and you’ll do it again if you have to.”

Percy was taken aback by Nico’s words. But it wasn’t like Nico was accusing him of leaving, there was a sort of quiet acceptance to his words. Not even a hint of anger, just a kind of sadness. 

“I left early I wouldn’t worry you. I just- I can’t tell you where I go or why but…”

Percy trailed off. Hearing himself, he realized he sounded a lot like Chiron. Withholding information on purpose. Nico didn’t even know about the Great Prophecy, which Percy had heard rumors of over the years. He was keeping secrets from Nico just as much as Chiron and the gods were doing to him, and the idea made Percy’s stomach churn. 

He ran a hand through his hair. “Look Nico, the more you know the more danger you’re in. And you found out you were a demigod even younger than I did. Plus, the more of a handle you get on your powers, the more monsters and enemies will want to target you.”

Nico frowned. “So you’re saying I’m better off useless? Even if I am a child of the Big Three?”

Percy inhaled sharply, glancing toward the windows to make sure there was no one in sight. So far, Hades hadn’t bothered sending a symbol to claim Nico, and Percy wanted things to stay that way. Word couldn’t get out that another child of the Big Three existed. Luke or Kronos would do anything to get their hands on Nico, or do worse. 

Nico got to his feet. “You know, in my dreams the dead try to talk to me. And they tell me things about you, too.”

“Nico,” Percy said as he stood, “I just don’t want you to get hurt. I want you to train, to get stronger before trying anything serious.”

Nico started wringing his hands, frown deepening. “The dead tell me I shouldn’t trust you. That you’re really dangerous. But you aren’t like Annabeth. Can’t you tell me what’s really going on?”

Gods, he was perceptive for his age. Though Percy didn’t like that comment about Annabeth, he realized that Nico was already getting stronger on his own. 

“If you swear not to tell anyone, I’ll tell you as much as I can.”

Nico’s eyes widened, like he didn’t expect Percy to yield. They sat back down and Percy told him about the Labyrinth running under not only the camp, but the entire country. He twisted the truth a bit and told Nico that because of his hellhound pack, Percy was the safest choice for the person to explore the Labyrinth. And he explained to the younger boy how important it was for Percy to keep some of his findings secret. Not only from Nico, but from basically everyone.

“Believe me, I’d tell you everything if I could. But it just isn’t safe.”

Nico was quiet for a moment. Then he said, “Thanks for being honest with me. I’ll keep it secret, promise.”

Percy breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t want to bind Nico to his word by using the Styx, so he let the other boy leave without much fuss. But once he was alone, thoughts of Camp Jupiter came creeping back in. 

They were going to be under siege again in a week. Gods, how long had that been going on? 

Maybe Camp Jupiter wasn’t as well off as he originally thought they were, if they were being bombarded so frequently. Or maybe they already knew of the attack ahead of time because of Octavian. Percy didn’t know. A part of him kind of did want to stay at Camp Half-Blood, to work on fortifying their defenses and training Nico, but another part of him knew he couldn’t possibly stay here. He couldn’t afford to be gone for very long, but at the very least, he could warn Jason and Camp Juipter. Anything to help, because even if Percy was jealous of them, they deserved a heads up at the very least. After all, they were both fighting the same enemy. 

* * *

Percy had hoped that, even for a while, he could try to pretend that things were alright. He trained with Nico in the arena, ate meals at the pavilion, and kept check of Andrea’s health. He wanted to have a normal week, or as normal as it could be, but the extra chores Chiron had him do didn’t help. 

One night, Percy had to take Beckendorf into the woods to patrol the far perimeter of the camp’s borders and set up a few traps. The hounds, save for Andrea, came willingly, providing transport and backup. And with four hellhounds accompanying them, not many monsters dared attacking. Then he was busy with other things, like shining and sharpening old weapons in the armory, or working with Clarisse to run camp-wide drills. 

The morning exactly seven days after his return, Percy awoke knowing that Camp Jupiter would be attacked come nightfall. It would take place several hours after curfew here in Camp Half-Blood, but maybe Percy could use that to his advantage. At the cusp of curfew, he might be able to make it to California before it got dark. If not, he could at least act as backup. With the power to shadow-travel on his side, he should be able to make it to the Labyrinth without any issue. All he needed to do was pack beforehand and keep quiet about his plan. No one needed to know. 

So Percy spent that day trying to act as normal as possible. He trained Nico, ate with everyone else, and tried to get in some exercise rock climbing without burning too much energy. 

Then, just after dinner and the setting of the winter sun, Percy got ready to head out. He pulled on the armor he had stashed in the cabin, the leather and celestial bronze a comfort after putting it on so many times. Then he grabbed his backpack full of nectar, ambrosia, water, and first aid supplies. While he was still in his cabin, he whistled low and long. Ruby, Cass, and Theo phased through the shadows, tails wagging with anticipation.

“Come on, we all gotta go in this time,” Percy said. 

He grabbed onto Cass and Theo with each hand and together, the four of them transported through the tumbling darkness and into the woods. Just a few yards away was the treeline and the start to camp, but hopefully no one would see him moving in the dark. 

Percy whistled again, the sound almost lost to the wind. Thankfully, Onyx’s keen ears must have heard him. He didn’t have to wait long before the biggest of his pack arrived, raising his head to sniff the air. 

“Hey, boy.” Percy said, holding out his hand. 

Onyx nudged his palm with a wet, warm nose. Too bad they couldn’t bring Andrea, but Percy wasn’t willing to risk her getting hurt more. Besides, they hopefully had all the backup muscle they’d need with them already. 

So with (nearly) his whole pack, Percy raced through the woods. Onyx, already guessing where they were going, carried him right up to the entrance to the Labyrinth. Percy took a deep breath and looked back. He couldn’t see the edge of camp anymore, and the woods were starting to become more active with nocturnal monsters. He was already here, he just needed to go in. 

Percy didn’t dare pray to any god or Chaos, but he just hoped he wouldn’t disappear for another long stretch of time. 

Then he plunged into the Labyrinth. One by one, his hellhounds followed. By then, the darkness and the uneasy aura within the Labyrinth felt familiar but no less disquieting. 

More than once, Percy was sure he heard footsteps behind him. But each time he turned around, there was no one there. He almost wished one of the hounds would perk up and growl at the darkness, just so his suspicions could be confirmed. But no, it was only him that felt uneasy.

Then they were slowed down by a small group of monsters. By the looks of their tattered clothes and pale skin, they’d been down in the Labyrinth for a long time. Too long to belong to Luke’s army. Percy couldn’t decide if he was relieved or not. 

At last, the tunnel they were in gave way to modern cement and fluorescent lights. Whatever hold Percy suspected he had over the Labyrinth, he hoped it brought him to Camp Jupiter. They reached a service door made of tarnished metal at the end of the corridor, and Percy pushed it open.

It might’ve been a slightly different exit, but it ended up leading to the same place. Below Percy was a familiar sprawling valley hidden within San Francisco, and it was still bathed in sunlight. He still had time. 

Without hesitating, Percy climbed on Onyx’s back and urged his hounds down the hill. He brought two fingers to his mouth and whistled, the sharp sound carried on the wind. Besides him, the hounds raised their heads and howled with him. 

That certainly got some attention. Mounted crossbows and the big harpoon launcher at the nearest guardpost swiveled towards them. Percy’s stomach clenched, whole body taut as he prepared to tell the pack to split up. But instead of being fired at, a horn sounded like an alarm as the people in the guardpost scrambled about. Percy tugged on the thick tufts of fur around Onyx’s neck, urging him to slow down. As he did, the other hounds followed suit. 

Percy stopped them just short of Camp Jupiter, on the other side of the shallow river circling the valley. Some kids at the guardpost were pointing at him. Others were shouting. 

Now he was at that awkward middle part in his plan. Step one was getting to Camp Jupiter before it was too late. Step three was to warn them and help them prepare. Step two was something he didn’t really think about ahead of time. 

“Hey!” Percy shouted as he waved. 

The gates to the camp opened and several people came out. One was Jason, dressed in jeans with a purple shirt and chestplate strapped on. They had their weapons lowered, so Percy took that as a good sign. Looking down at the river, he closed his eyes and concentrated. He inhaled, then held his breath and opened his eyes. The surface of the river stilled and became almost glass-like. Percy urged Onyx onward. His friend moved toward the river with a huff, testing the surface with a paw before trotting forward. 

The others followed. Together, Percy guided his pack across this river. Once they were on the other side, he exhaled with a huff. The sound of rushing water came soon after. 

Percy dismounted, his feet hitting the ground with an audible  _ thud. _ So he hadn’t been attacked yet, which he hoped was another good sign. He brushed the hair from his face (when had it gotten so long?) and fixed his eyes on Jason. 

“You’re back,” Jason said. There was something in his voice, something not necessarily negative. Relief, maybe. Hope. 

“I am. And we need to talk,” Percy replied. 

Jason’s eyes darted toward his pack. “Will you be leaving them outside?”

Ruby trotted forward, unafraid of teenagers wielding weapons, but Percy threw his arm out. 

“You all stay.”

Ruby pinned her ears back against her head, a low whine coming from her throat. 

“Stay.” Percy said again. 

Onyx barked. He trotted away from the entrance to the nearest guardpost. Percy didn’t miss how some of those crossbows tried pointing downward. Onyx melted into the shadows and one by one, Cass, Theo, and Ruby followed. As much as Percy was relieved they wouldn’t get hurt, he was also uneasy being alone with these other campers. These Romans. 

Jason gestured for him to follow, so he did. The inside of Camp Jupiter felt so much different since the last time Percy was here. There were more campers, first and foremost. Dozens, either walking down the paths carrying weapons or pushing carts, inside buildings, standing outside of shops. Many stopped to stare at Percy as Jason led him to the big, white building from before. Their equivalent of Camp Half-Blood’s Big House. 

Once the doors were sealed behind them and Percy was alone with Jason, the other turned on his heel to face Percy. There was less tension in his shoulders now, but a weary look in his eyes. 

“You’re going to be under attack,” Percy blurted out. 

Whatever Jason was going to say, he faltered. “What?”

“I heard from some monsters I was tracking in the Labyrinth. Camp Jupiter will be under attack by nightfall.”

Jason didn’t seem very surprised. “How serious?”

Percy thought back to his dreams and the visions Chaos showed him. “Pretty bad. A huge chunk of Kr- of Saturn’s forces will be invading.”

Jason stared at him. Then he exhaled through his nose and walked over to the long table dividing the room in half. He pushed aside papers and looked over others. 

“Nightfall doesn’t give us much time to prepare. Are you certain it’s tonight?”

“Yeah, it’s why I came back. I had to warn you guys.”

Jason looked over his shoulder. Percy remembered the title Jason spoke of when they first met. Praetor, a leader. Percy couldn’t imagine having a camp of hundreds, plus a whole town, depending on him to protect them. 

Jason was good at hiding it, but he seemed tired. There were shadows under his eyes that Percy didn’t think were there before. 

“Will you be going now?” he asked. 

“What do you mean?”

“This isn’t your camp. You said as much,” Jason said. He gestured toward the doors, “But I have to defend my home. So if you choose to leave now, I won’t hold it against you. But we could use every fighter we have, and you happen to have a pack of hellhounds at your disposal.”

“A couple hundred campers aren’t enough for you?” Percy asked, not out of spite but out of curiosity. 

Jason shook his head, “Minor assaults have been happening almost daily, long before you got to camp. At first, they were just scouting parties. But now we’ve got a few dozen campers with injuries at this point, and are starting to pull from pools of reserve veterans in New Rome. We’re strong, but Saturn’s forces are relentless.”

Percy had until morning in New York to help. At the latest, and with a lot of luck, he could try leaving by the very early hours of the morning and still get to camp before breakfast was called. 

“I’ll help,” he said. 

Jason seemed faintly surprised. He straightened his back. “Thank you. But before anything else, I want to test your skills-”

The doors burst open. Octavian came in, a cape clipped to his toga flowing in the wind. His eyes immediately locked onto Percy. He smiled, a sparkle in his eyes that still managed to be cold and uninviting. 

“Ah, so it’s true. Perseus has returned.”

“Just Percy,” he said out of habit. 

Octavian studied him. “So what brings you to our fine camp this time?”

“Octavian, I want you back at the temples. There’s supposedly going to be a major assault tonight. I want as much information as you can gather.”

For a moment, Percy marveled at how composed Jason seemed, despite his demeanor only seconds ago. However, Octavian refused to budge. 

“If the battle will be severe, then surely we can pray to the gods for help.”

His words had an edge to them, one Percy didn't quite understand. It was like there was an inside joke going over his head. 

“Octavian,” Jason said, voice harsher now. “Go. Now.”

The older teenager regarded Percy for a second longer before leaving with a flourish of his cape. Once he was out of earshot, Percy couldn’t help but ask, “What’s his deal?”

Jason didn’t say anything for a moment. “Octavian has always been like that. But I think the current situation has also been putting him on edge.”

His bright blue eyes, so much like Thalia’s, felt like they were giving Percy a shock with just a look. 

“If you don’t mind, I want to test you on the training grounds.”

Percy nodded, hand reaching for his pocket. Jason led him out of the Roman Big House and toward an arena similar to the one found at Camp Half-Blood, only much bigger. Inside, groups of teenagers were sparring, practicing archery, or going through obstacle courses. 

They reached a secluded part of the arena where Jason stopped and turned to face him. 

“Do you have any armor?”

Percy shook his head. He took out Riptide and uncapped it. Jason’s eyes were glued to his sword as it elongated in Percy’s hand. The corner of his mouth twitched upward. He took out a gold coin and flipped it. Jason caught it and, in just a second, it turned into a golden sword. Percy cocked his head to the side. Seemed like he wasn’t the only one with an enchanted weapon. A part of him wondered if Jason’s sword carried a tragic history like Riptide did. 

“So do you usually fight with only a sword? No shield or armor?”

“Hard to travel when you’re bogged down,” Percy replied. Jason studied him for a moment before readying himself. Percy did the same, holding Riptide in front of him. He took a breath before lunging forward. 

Jason was good. Fast like Annabeth but with the strength of a trained swordsman. Again, Percy was reminded of Luke. But where the two blonds differed was in basically everything else. Jason was a straightforward fighter, at least. His chestplate and greaves gave him a protection Percy didn’t have, and he relied on a very stabby-stabby sort of sword fighting. Very direct, very dangerous. 

Percy had a few advantages of his own, though. Being on the receiving end of many fights with Luke and Clarisse honed his defensive instincts. Plus, Percy wasn’t weighed down by armor. He wove between some of Jason’s strikes, blocking others and attempting more than once to disarm him with the old trick he learned when he was twelve. 

It ended in a draw. 

Both of them were sweaty and panting hard by the time Jason backed off and raised one hand while lowering his sword arm. Percy had a few cuts on his arms, only one being concerningly deep, and the hem of one sleeve was singed by lighting. 

“Enough. I can tell now that you can hold your own.” 

Jason’s eyes went to Percy’s sword arm. “I’ll take you to the infirmary to patch those up, though you might have to go without nectar or ambrosia. We’ve had to start rationing our supplies.”

Percy shook his head. “No need. I’ll be fine.”

He glanced around, heart skipping a beat when he realized how many kids had been watching them. Some had stopped their sparring or racing to gawk, though he didn’t understand why. Maybe they hadn’t expected their leader to end a fight in a draw. Maybe they’d been watching for longer than Percy thought. Internally, he kicked himself. He should have been more aware of his surroundings. 

Without waiting for Jason, Percy capped Riptide and hurried from the arena. Hand covering the cut that was bleeding the most, Percy glanced down at himself. His long sleeves absorbed most of the blood, keeping it from catching in the light and shimmering gold. But some was seeping from between his fingers now. 

He stumbled out of Camp Jupiter and knelt by the river. Percy lowered his arms to the water, willing the water to wash away his blood. For a few seconds, the water was tinged with a reddish-gold hue. Then it flowed clear as his cuts healed. He exhaled, relieved. He  _ really _ didn’t want to explain the phenomenon behind his blood, how it looked red at some angles but shimmered gold in others like a chrome effect. 

Percy got up, shaking his hands of excess water before turning around. He stopped. Jason had been watching him. 

“You healed yourself,” he said, voice concealing anything he was thinking. Percy only nodded. Jason’s eyes narrowed.

“The last time you were here, you said you didn’t know who your godly parent was, right? You never received a sort of sign?”

Percy played dumb. “A sign? Am I supposed to get one?”

Jason shrugged, the motion stilted by the stiffness in his shoulders. “Yeah. Not every demigod is lucky enough to receive one, but sometimes we impress our godly parents and get a sign. An honest to gods’ neon, light-up sign over our heads to display our parent’s claim over us.”

He paused. Then asked, “You really never got one?”

There was a softer edge to his words now, something a bit closer to pity in his voice. 

Percy shook his head. “What about you?”

He waited. He waited for Jason to reveal he probably got a lightning bolt over his head, for a flare of pride at being the child of Jupiter that Percy knew he was. Instead, Jason looked away. “Yeah, I did. I was pretty young when it happened. But for someone as powerful as you, I’d expect it to come any day now.”

Percy didn’t know what to make of that. 

* * *

It was an hour later, the sun now dangerously close to touching the horizon. Percy had been given the task of perimeter patrol. Jason had figured that, with his pack, Percy could act as a great early-warning system. It was smart on his part. Percy was out of the way of most of the preparations while still being close enough for the actual battle. 

But as groups of campers embedded golden landmines, snares, and other traps around the entrance to the Labyrinth, something happened that Percy hadn’t expected. Someone else raised a warning signal, a white flare that cut through the oncoming darkness. But not red, signalling an immediate attack. 

Percy urged Onyx onward, heels digging into his hellhounds side as if he were a massive horse. Onyx raised his head and howled as the pack began racing. They were on the far side of Camp Jupiter when it happened, the outer walls obscuring Percy’s vision of the Labyrinth. High up on the hill above him, a cluster of people were gathered. 

“Careful,” he said, raising his voice to be heard over the wind. He urged Onyx to leap over trenches and weave between traps, the others following close behind. 

Percy urged Onyx to a stop at the top of the hill, taking in the sight before him. A group of half a dozen campers in golden armor were levelling their spears at someone partially eclipsed in the shadows of the cliff looming over them. Then a shadow fell over  _ him.  _

Percy looked up, eyes widened as he witnessed Jason gliding through the air like a blond superman. Granted, it wasn’t exactly like flying. Jason didn’t move with the grace of a bird or a superhero, but there was power in his motions. Wind whipped around him and thin trails of lighting followed in his wake. He landed with an audible thud on the ground as Percy dismounted. 

“Didn’t know you could fly,” he said. 

Jason ignored him. “What happened?”

“We found a spy!” a girl said. She reminded Percy a bit of Clarisse with the burning heat in her glare. 

Jason moved toward the group, Percy following behind him. 

“Move aside.”

Then Percy froze. 

It was Nico. Hands raised, eyes wide with fear and shock and an intensified blend of relief and confusion when he saw Percy. By his side, Andrea was crouching low to the ground and letting out a continuous rumble of growls from her throat. 

Jason was speaking, but Percy didn’t hear what he was saying. He rushed forward, putting himself between the Romans and Nico and Andrea. 

“Stop! Don’t hurt them.”

Andrea ceased snarling. She pushed her nose up against his side, sniffing him with an intense, curious fervor. 

“P-percy…” he heard Nico say. He didn’t look back. 

Jason’s eyes darted from him to Andrea. “Another one of your hellhounds?”

He nodded. 

“So then,” Jason leveled his sword- when had he pulled out his sword- at Nico, “who’s this?”

“I’m-”

Percy held his arm out to the side, silencing the other boy. He steeled himself and took a breath. 

“I told you before. There are other half-bloods like me, ones who try to survive on our own.” He debated how much to tell the Romans, and specifically Jason, “I found him. His name is Nico, but I didn’t know he followed me here.”

It would explain the feeling of being watched while in the Labyrinth. But how Nico didn’t get lost was a mystery to him. And now he was in deep shit. So was Nico. 

With their backs to the Labyrinth, Percy contemplated the idea of shoving Nico back inside and forcing his hounds to retreat. Just for a second. Just to get Nico out of danger. But then they might run into Luke’s army. 

Jason lowered his sword. His eyes almost glowed in the sunset, a harsh bright blue. 

“We’ll hold him inside the camp until the attack is over.” 

His tone made it clear he wanted to continue this conversation but without so many eyes and ears on them. Percy nodded. Without breaking eye contact, he grabbed Nico’s arm and urged him through the crowd. The campers parted for them. As a show of trust, Percy didn’t rely on his hellhounds. He, and Jason, marched Nico down the hill and into Camp Jupiter. 

“Whoa…” he heard Nico say. 

At one point he stopped. Percy glanced behind him, finding Nico staring at one of the storefronts displaying a leather aviator’s jacket. He gently tugged at Nico’s sleeve, hurrying him along. He was at least glad the thin coat Nico was wearing covered his Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. Once inside the Roman Big House, Jason shut the doors behind him. The shadows around them rippled as the hellhounds emerged, taking up refuge along the walls of the inner chamber or sitting by the door. They kept their eyes on Jason. But to his credit, he hardly seemed bothered.

“So what’s your deal, Percy? Do you have a pack of wild demigods that you train on your own? Where you do live, how do you care for them?” His eyes clouded over for a second while lost in thought, then his gaze became sharp and harsh. “I thought you said you were on your own.”

Percy’s jaw clenched. He squared his shoulders and said, “I was, for a long while. And it’s just us, by the way. I found Nico a few months ago and knew he was a demigod. After he was attacked by a monster, I decided to take care of him.”

From behind him, Nico made a sound like a mouse squeak. 

“But he wasn’t supposed to follow me into the Labyrinth, I’d never ask him to do that. In fact,” he rounded on Nico, eyes warning him to keep silent, “he should have been in bed by now. Shouldn’t have known where I’d gone.”

Nico hung his head low, bangs covering his eyes. He was twisting the hems of his jacket in his hands. 

“I thought you were in danger,” he said, voice soft and low.

It was the first time Percy actually got a good look at him. It didn’t occur to him that Nico might be injured from being in the Labyrinth. But what surprised him more than a lack of any injuries at all was a scabbard hanging at his side. 

Where did he get a  _ sword _ from? It didn’t look like the type of scabbards they kept for training at camp, and the pommel was fashioned with a gleaming black gemstone. 

But his questions would have to wait. Percy didn’t want to send Nico back into the Labyrinth without him, but he knew Nico didn’t have enough training yet to fight in a real battle. Instead, he’d have to find someplace safe for Nico to stay until they could leave. 

Percy’s gaze softened. He turned back to Jason. 

“Can he stay here until the battle is over?”

“Of course. Camp Jupiter is a safe haven for all demigods.”

_ “Jupiter?”  _ Percy heard Nico ask. 

Jason raised a brow. “The most powerful of the gods?”

_ Please, _ Percy pleaded,  _ just be quiet.  _

“I know that. It’s just…” Nico faltered, “...in the first Roman alternative set in Mythomagic, he’s crazy overpowered with bonus damage for each active ally.”

Percy and Jason both stared at him. Nico tugged at the collar of his coat. “It’s fitting.”

After a beat, Jason cleared his throat. “Anyways, I need to consult Octavian at the temples.”

His tone implied he wanted Percy to come with him. He nodded. Percy turned to Nico before they left. 

“Stay here. There’s a battle happening soon and I know you want to help, but the best thing you can do is stay away from the danger. When it’s over, we can leave and go home together.” Percy then added, “And I’ll answer whatever questions you might have.”

It was the least he could do. Nico still looked like he was about to argue, but Percy was already on his way out with Jason. Once the doors closed behind him, the other boy nudged his side. 

“There’s a big Mythomagic club within the camp. Maybe he’d like it.”

Percy blinked. It was such a strange comment while they were on the eve of a major battle. Maybe Jason was offering to let Nico stay with them. Not that Percy would let that happen. They walked the rest of the way to the temples in silence. At the top of the hill, Percy could see flashes of bright light and lightning. As expected, Octavian was working his weird prophecy-magic via gutting teddy bear after teddy bear. 

Though in the dying light, the silver accents used across the temple to Jupiter gleamed with a harsh glow. One caught Percy’s eye as Jason walked ahead of him. 

_ A half-blood of the eldest gods… _

He stopped. Percy’s eyes fixed themselves upon one of the many prophecies laid in stone on the ground. Some were faded from age, others were inlaid with silver or gold to preserve them. 

_ A half-blood of the eldest gods _

_ Shall reach sixteen against all odds _

_ And see the world in endless sleep _

_ The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap _

_ A single choice shall end his days _

_ Olympus to preserve or raze _

Percy knew as much as the second line, knew that he was a candidate for the next Great Prophecy that Chiron had been careful to keep from him. But he never knew the rest. The words  _ cursed blade  _ shocked him to his core, and Riptide suddenly became a very present feeling in Percy’s pocket. 

“Percy,” Jason said. 

He hurried past the prophecy on the floor. Octavian had stopped his work to greet him. 

“Ah, Perseus. I expect the battle to begin by the time the sky is fully dark. It’s incredibly fortuitous that you are here, surely your hellhounds will give us a great advantage.”

Jason shot Octavian a look, a vibe between them that Percy couldn’t decipher. 

“Okay, great.” He said, “Then I’m going back to my pack. We’ll be ready.”

Octavian looked like he had more he wanted to say, and maybe it was a mistake walking away from the guy who could kind of tell the future, but Percy already felt on edge. He stepped out of the temple and whistled. Onyx appeared, ever faithful, and together they melted into the shadows to rejoin the rest of the pack. 

It was good timing. The sky was a cascade of blues and reds with the night arriving not long after. With his enhanced eyesight, Percy could see perfectly well in the dark. It was unfortunate for the campers, though. There were torches set up outside the camp’s walls with spotlights mounted overhead and LED lights placed at regular intervals along the hillside. 

The Romans were readying for battle, cavalry units among phalanxes and even a few in the air on pegasi. Other campers were running around adjusting armor, handing out shields, or offering last minute drinks of nectar for energy. One came up to Percy with a set of armor and also offered a handful of bright yellow, reflective strips of fabric. Percy tied one around the leg or neck of each of his hellhounds, to mark them as his. 

And for a moment, the whole of Camp Jupiter was holding its breath. 

Then the entrance to the Labyrinth erupted. 

More than a dozen Laistrygonian giants in armor came rushing out of the Labyrinth. They bellowed their war cries, but the Romans were well prepared. A landmine went off, vaporizing two giants into clouds of golden dust. The others weren’t deterred, even as they were snagged in traps. They were still out of range from the harpoons or crossbows mounted to the wall, so Percy took his chance. 

“Let’s go!” he shouted. 

He squeezed Onyx’s sides with his heels. The next moment, he was dipping into a free fall in pitch black darkness. When the world came back to them, they were behind the charging Laistrygonians. Onyx snarled, catching one off guard as he pounced. While the Laistrygonian turned to dust from Onyx’s weight and teeth, Percy saw Andrea ambush another while Cass, Theo, and Ruby worked to bring down a third. At that point, the Laistrygonians had slowed down, confused by the sight of other monsters attacking them. 

Percy heard the sound of rustling from behind him. About fifty feet away, the entrance to the Labyrinth trembled. 

Onyx tensed, teeth bared and hackles raised. But Percy only tugged at his fur. 

“No! We need to get back!” 

He was right. Several dozen monsters, including a mix of giants, cyclopes, Dracanae snake women, and a drakon, burst from the darkness. Just in time, Percy dipped back into the dark. When he reappeared, he and his pack were closer to the front lines now. 

_ “Charge!” _ Percy heard Jason shout.

They were brave, these Romans. Not that the kids at Camp Half-Blood weren’t, but Percy admired how these campers moved as one singular front. Then the moment passed and everything became a blur. 

Never before had Percy been in a full scale battle. One-on-one fights, plenty. Fights against more than one opponent, yes. But a battle with dozens, maybe even hundreds of enemies and hundreds of allies? Never. 

It was just as deafening as his dreams. The mingling sounds of Romans, monsters, explosions, and dozens of individual fights coalescing into one cacophony of overwhelming sound. 

It was terrifying. As soon as Percy killed one monster with Riptide, as soon as one of his pack felled another enemy, there was another to take their place. Injured Romans laid on the ground everywhere, others dragging them to safety. 

And it was exhilarating. 

His pack wasn’t the only advantage Percy had. He also had a ready supply of water. He drowned a fleet of Dracanae that somehow managed to slip past the main battle and attempted scaling the walls of Camp Jupiter. He swept away a group of cyclopes big enough to wield car doors as shields and pinned them long enough for the cavalry to finish them off. Percy raised up a thirty foot wide stretch of river and made it form a wall around a battered phalanx so they could regroup and recover. 

From the other side of the battle, closer to the Labyrinth’s entrance, he could see arches of lightning firing into the sky almost constantly. That was where the battle was thickest. 

Then it became heart-stopping. For two reasons. 

One, Percy noticed a blot of darkness weaving in and out of the field. He thought it was an enemy hellhound, but no. When the darkness solidified for a moment, Percy could see a pale kid with dark hair slashing the ankles of a Laistrygonian before vanishing again. The dark blot, probably invisible to most campers and even monsters, reappeared behind a Telekhine and stabbed it in the back. 

It was Nico. Darting in and out of the abundant darkness with the help of a hellhound at his side with a yellow strip tied around her neck. _ Ruby. _ Somehow, Percy hadn’t noticed when she’d gone missing. 

His momentary pause nearly cost him his head. A cyclops with an axe roared and took a swing at him. Percy ducked and rolled just in time for Cass to bound forward and go for the monster’s jugular. He got to his feet and scanned the field. 

There Nico was again, slashing the ankle, or at least stabbing the tail, of a Dracanae before vanishing. At the back of his mind, while the fight was still going on all around him, Percy remembered the advice he once gave to Nico during training. 

_ When you’re smaller than your opponent, you're probably more agile as well. Get them in the ankle and they’ll go down.  _

Half of Percy wanted to scream for Nico to get out of the battle. The other half was almost proud. 

Then the second heart-stopping thing happened. 

Even at the base of the hill and far from the entrance to the Labyrinth, Percy could feel something coming. Something big enough to make the entrance shake and spew out a cloud of dust. Something that had campers and monsters alike giving pause. That was Percy’s only clue that whatever was coming wasn’t on either side. 

Then all Hades broke loose when Kampê herself burst from the Labyrinth. In just a second, the gust of wind from her wings sent campers and monsters alike scattering, some unfortunate enough to even be tossed up in the air. Compared to even the biggest of the giants on the field, Kampê was still titanic in size. She circled the battlefield, bat wings and dragon body and scorpion tail on full display while she sent the air support fleeing in terror. 

Her yellow slit-eyes pierced the darkness. As if designed by the fates themselves, her eyes locked on with his. Kampê tucked her wings and dived. Campers screamed, some shouted to retreat while others called to stand their ground. Some monsters blindly cheered, assuming her presence was a good thing. 

Kampê landed on the ground with an earth-shaking  _ thud, _ making Percy’s teeth rattle in his head. She drew her dual scimitars and smiled, nothing but pure elation in her eyes. Percy noticed she already had gold dust caked on her hands. 

_ “So glad I chose to follow Kronos’ little army when I heard them passing by in the Labyrinth,” _ she said, speaking in the ancient tongue only Percy could understand. And for a second, his blood ran cold. Her eyes gleamed in the dark. _ “You were right, little hero. It is much more satisfying to fight Kronos than submit to him.” _

And to prove her point, she slashed one scimitar in a wide arch, taking out at least ten monsters at once. 

_ “Now let me see what chaos you can wring!” _

It was utter carnage. Some Romans were trying to attack Kampê, others were focusing on killing the remaining monsters. Meanwhile, some of the monsters were trying to fight the Romans as others tried to retreat while Kampê slaughtered them a dozen at a time. 

At some point in the night, Percy remembered shouting,  _ “Not the humans! Attack only the monsters!” _

He couldn’t remember if it was in English or in that ancient tongue. Kampê seemed to understand him well enough, even if it did mean she had to ignore the Romans stabbing at her with the equivalent of toothpicks and toy swords. 

By then, the tide was well after turning. The monsters were retreating without a doubt, but the Romans were dedicated to killing as many of them as possible. The battle was also more scattered now, with pockets of campers and monsters still locked in combat. Jason shot up into the air and tried to blast lighting at Kampê, apparently unsure which side she was on. But for as large as she was, Kampê spread her wings and dodged the attack with ease. 

Percy was distracted. He didn’t want Kampê to hurt any of the Romans, but he also didn’t want anyone else to make her angry. He should have kept part of his focus on Nico. 

He didn’t. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He turned. Percy saw Nico emerge from the shadows once more, but something was off. Ruby was panting hard, and Nico was clutching one of his legs. His sword arm was hanging low as his chest heaved. A remaining monster more than twice his size spotted him, a demigod without any armor, and charged. 

Percy knew Nico couldn’t shadow travel away, they were both at their limit. Before he knew it, he was sprinting toward Nico. The other was only a few yards away. 

“Get down!” Percy shouted. 

Nico saw him and stumbled away. He tripped and fell, Ruby grabbing him by his coat collar and trying to pull him to safety. 

Percy blocked the first blow with Riptide, the grind of metal on metal deafening. His arms shook and Percy was tossed to the side, hitting the ground hard enough to nearly knock the breath from his lungs. 

He reached for Riptide, but couldn’t find the handle of his sword. 

A massive shadow blotted out the moonlight. 

He didn’t realize how exhausted he actually was, how much he’d been relying on adrenaline. 

_ “Percy!” _

He focused his eyes on the axe coming down on him. With the little breath left in his lungs, Percy exhaled. 

Time felt impossibly slow. He reached out with his hand, the air around him rippling with waves of darkness. Percy blinked, a straining force emerging from behind his eyes. The axe shattered when it made contact with his hand, metal rusting and shattering like glass before it could even break his skin. 

Percy blinked and time resumed. The monster reared back as Percy tried to catch his breath. He clutched his chest, mouth open as he gasped for air. He ran his tongue over his teeth, finding his fangs exposed. Percy saw Riptide laying in the grass a few feet away and grabbed it. He turned his attention back to the monster, but to his surprise, there was only a cloud of golden dust being blown away in the wind. 

He touched the corner of his eye with his other hand. It’d been so long since he let his second skin slip, revealing the inner part of him that took after Chaos. It was the first time he ever purposely used those powers in a fight. Hands suddenly grabbed at him. 

“Percy, get up! Please!” 

It was Nico. Percy forced himself to his feet and shook his head. He felt his fangs recede and hoped his eyes were doing the same. He blinked and raised his head. 

“I’m fine, I’m fine. What about you?”

The wound in Nico’s leg didn’t look terrible. He was at least still able to stand on it, but Percy could smell something metallic in the air. 

The wind rippled in the grass. Percy looked up and saw Jason coming in for a landing. They both took a step back. Jason still seemed on edge. 

“The battle is nearly over. All that’s left to worry about is her.”

He pointed his sword at Kampê, who was circling the air above the battlefield.  _ Fuck.  _ All around them, older campers with stretchers were taking in the wounded while others were assembling into a defensive formation. Percy felt a warm nose sniffing at him and checking for injuries, undoubtedly Onyx. 

“Yeah, uh… about that.” Percy said. He pushed the sweat-soaked hair from his eyes. “We’ve met before. In the Labyrinth.”

Jason’s eyes pierced right through him. “So you know how to fight her?”

“Not exactly.”

Percy got an idea. “But what I  _ can _ do is lead her back into the Labyrinth.”

He glanced at Nico, who was sitting on the ground now and clutching his leg. Percy knelt in front of him and spoke softly, “How badly are you hurt?”

Nico tried to give him a grin, though it came out more like a grimace. “I’m alright, I think. It just hurts a little.”

Percy nodded. The situation wasn’t ideal, but he could work with it. He spoke low enough that he was confident Jason couldn’t hear him, “Get ready. Have the hounds take you into the Labyrinth when no one is looking.”

Then Percy got up and climbed on top of Onyx’s back.

“Wait,” Jason said, “You can’t go back in there with her! You might run into Saturn’s forces, or get lost in the Labyrinth.”

Percy hadn’t actually considered Kronos’ forces, but he still had to get Kampê out of here. “Don’t worry about me, just look after yours, Jason. I’ll be alright.” 

Then Percy raised two fingers to his mouth and whistled, sharp and shrill. That caught Kampê’s attention. Percy urged Onyx up the hill while Kampê followed. Arrows flew through the air, a few spears too. Plus a bolt of lightning. Percy didn’t stop to see if any hit Kampê. At the top of the hill, he patted Onyx’s side and got him to slow down. He turned back, heart stopping at how close Kampê was now. Just because she liked him didn’t mean she was any less terrifying to see up close. 

Percy heard rustling coming from behind him, deeper in the Labyrinth. Then Kampê was right in front of him. Up close, he could see dozens of miniscule cuts all over her body, though they hardly seemed to bother her. She stood over him with her blood-drenched swords in hand. 

“So,” Percy said, “fun time, right?”

Kampê grinned, flashing her pointed teeth.  _ “It has been quite some time since I have had the pleasure of battling a full army.” _

She sheathed her swords. _ “You have proven yourself worthy of my allegiance, child.” _

“Alright, awesome.” He gestured behind him. “So come on then, we have to leave.”

Percy turned Onyx around, relieved to see the others waiting for them. Nico was on Andrea’s back, staring at Kampê with comically wide eyes. Once the entrance to the Labyrinth disappeared from view behind them, they came across a large, circular chamber. Percy stopped them and glanced around. He realized he had lost the backpack he took with him when he first left Camp Half-Blood. 

“Shit…” He had wanted to take a look at Nico’s leg. 

Besides him, Theo woofed. He vanished into the darkness and reappeared with the backpack in his mouth. Percy smiled. He hadn’t even noticed when he lost it, but apparently there was more to hellhounds than he thought. Maybe they had their own little pocket dimension somewhere in those shadows.

Percy took the backpack and gave Theo a scratch behind his ear. “Good boy.”

With a flashlight, it was a lot easier to see. Nico held it as Percy cleaned his wound. And after Nico drank some nectar, the cut was already starting to heal. 

“What you did was insanely reckless, you know. You didn’t have any armor or anything,” Percy said, “but I’m glad you’re safe.”

Nico didn’t respond. From behind them, Kampê cleared her throat. 

_ “This is not the best place to rest. Come, follow me.” _

Together, Percy and Nico followed Kampê as she led them through the Labyrinth. They arrived at a metal door, but when Kampê touched it, it grew large enough to accommodate her. After a beat, Percy and Nico followed her. 

They were back in Alcatraz, but it wasn’t nearly as empty as Percy remembered. The cells were filled with people and for a second, his blood ran cold. But _ no, _ he looked closer. A lot of the cells were occupied by monsters. They all sat quiet and huddled, all of them with their eyes on Kampê. 

_ “Behold, child. The fruits of my labors.” _

“Are these…”

_ “High ranking lieutenants, blacksmiths, and other important figures in Kronos’ army!”  _ she said proudly,  _ “As I said before, I am a jailer. I  _ live _ to cause misery.” _

“Percy?” Nico asked. Percy felt a hand grab his arm. “Why are we here?”

He was reminded that only he could understand Kampê’s ancient language. 

“I’ll explain everything once we’re safe,” he said. Then louder, he said to Kampê, “Great. That’s awesome. Keep up the good work.”

She laughed, as if Percy said something funny.  _ “You have proven your worth, as have I. Kronos’ mistake was his lack of faith in me, so now I crave to spite him. Tell me, child, where the base of your operations is.” _

Oh no. Absolutely not. 

“I think you’re doing a great job here, actually.”

Kampê narrowed her eyes and moved closer. Nico’s breath hitched as he stumbled back, trying to pull Percy closer to him. He stood his ground. 

_ “I’m aware that the Olympians foster their Greek children closer to their home. This is accurate, yes?” _

Percy bit his lip. On one hand, there was no way he could explain how he got Kampê to help him. On the other hand, if Kronos or Luke wanted to wage war on Camp Half-Blood, he might not have a choice. Camp Jupiter was so much bigger than them and  _ they _ struggled to defeat Luke’s forces. If a full scale assault was planned for Camp Half-Blood, Percy realized they really would need all the help they could get. 

“Firstly...” he said, heart hammering in his chest. He willed himself to speak in Kampê’s tongue, _ “First, I want you to swear on the Styx that you will not harm my friends or any of the other demigods at my camp.” _

Kampê’s smile, cruel and sharp, returned.  _ “You are clever, child. But tell me one thing. Give to me the name I swear allegiance to.” _

Percy realized with a start he never actually told Kampê his name. “Percy. Percy Jackson.”

Her eyes lit up with recognition.  _ “Ah, Luke spoke of you. Very well, Percy Jackson. I swear upon the Styx to your terms.” _

The whole of Alcatraz shuddered as the pact became binding. Percy breathed a quiet sigh of relief. He had assumed Kampê would accompany them through the Labyrinth, but she only laughed. She had prisoners to dispose of, so that they may not fall back into enemy hands. It made Percy feel queasy, but he still agreed to it. Despite a huge chunk of him screaming at himself not to, Percy described the general area of Camp Half-Blood and how to get there. Though before they left, he recalled the first prisoner Kampê had. Briares, the Hundred-Handed One. Percy made Kampê promise to spare him, though she only did so begrudgingly. It was still better than nothing. 

So after a long day, after a long night, after a battle and after nearly dying, Percy finally got to head home. His pack and Nico walked with him across the threshold and back inside the Labyrinth, where they were finally able to actually talk to each other. 

Because there was no way he could try to hide the truth, Percy explained how he discovered Camp Jupiter on his previous expedition into the Labyrinth. How the gods apparently kept their Greek and Roman halves separate. How neither camp knew of the other, save for Nico and Percy. He also explained how he met Kampê before and accidentally gained her trust. 

“The Labyrinth is supposed to be super dangerous and hard to navigate through. How can you keep finding the same places over and over again?” Nico asked.

He was being guided by a flashlight, though Percy was able to see with his enhanced vision. 

“And you befriended hellhounds even without being a child of Hades. And- and what you did in battle- you vaporized a monster just by  _ touching _ him. And you have your hypnotizing powers and-”

Percy nearly tripped and fell.  _ “Hypnotizing?  _ I can’t do that.”

Nico gave him a strange look. “But… your eyes. And your white hair.”

“The hair is from stress.”

“But you, you know…” Nico fumbled with his words, “It’s so easy to get distracted by your eyes. Or your voice. Looking at you makes it hard to think.”

Percy’s face flushed red. He quickly looked away from Nico and felt a hot flash of embarrassment for them both. It sounded like Nico was confessing he had a crush on Percy without even knowing it, but then it hit him. 

Maybe it wasn’t just Nico. The way others looked at him… what if it was Chaos’ doing? 

Percy was reminded that his body now was technically not the same one he had all his life. Chaos called it a second skin, though Percy felt flesh and bone enough. And yet, it made him curious. Especially after last night. What if his body really was just a mask, something to conceal the ghastly powers he grew up with… and what if Chaos made it too well? 

Percy recalled the rare moments when being with Chaos overwhelmed him with the sheer power and beauty of the universe, rather than fear or dread. It wouldn’t surprise him if it was possible. It also made a part of him wonder if that abomination, not-meant-to-exist part of him still existed right under his skin. 

It made another part of him never want to think about it again. 

“Percy?”

He realized he’d been quiet for a while. 

“All this stays a secret, you understand? Not only Camp Jupiter but everything I’m about to tell you.”

Nico’s eyes widened as he nodded. 

Percy didn’t tell him everything, just explained a little about himself. How his body and powers got messed up when Chaos decided to intervene in his life when he was just a baby. How he could summon up fangs as his freaky chaos-eyes and decay monsters to the point of death with a touch. Nico had seen too much of him already, he deserved an answer. 

“So you’re like… mega powerful?” 

“Trust me, it’s not like I asked for it.”

He couldn’t tell how long they’d been in the Labyrinth at that point. Then Ruby barked and raced ahead of the group. Cass and Theo followed after her, ears perked up and barks bouncing off the stone walls. A sliver of light was shining in a crack in the wall ahead of them. It was an exit. 

Nico climbed out with Percy following him. The hounds shadow traveled to the other side. Above them, the full moon was shining through the clouds. The woods were still, though the horizon was just barely tinged with the traces of morning light. 

“We’re back at camp?” Nico asked, “Our camp?”

Percy nodded. “Yeah, finally. Let’s get back to the cabins before anyone sees us.”

They used shadow travel, but Nico ended up following him to his. Percy let him. Though once inside his cabin, Percy realized he was still wearing golden armor from Camp Jupiter. He’d have to hide it, but the risk of being found was still present. Even though he wanted to stay away here, Percy might just have to return it to Camp Jupiter. 

Meanwhile, Nico fumbled with his torn-up coat and unlooped his belt. The scabbard fell to the floor. Percy had almost forgotten about it. 

“So... where did you get the sword?”

Nico froze. Percy picked it up off the ground and unsheathed it. As he recalled from battle, it wasn’t bronze or even gold. It looked like it was made of steel. 

“Be careful!” Nico said, taking the sword, “It’s made of Stygian iron. I uh… I got it from my father.”

_ “What?  _ When did you meet fucking H- your dad?”

Nico flinched and clutched the handle of his sword. “It was when I first followed you into the Labyrinth with Andrea. At first, we were just tailing you. Then we must have taken a wrong turn, because we got lost for a while. We ended up finding an exit that led to the Underworld.”

Nico sat down on the bed opposite of Percy, a distant look in his eyes. He spoke, though his voice was hoarse, “I got caught trying to look for my sister. I was brought to the palace.”

He was staring at the gleaming blade of his sword now. The thing didn’t look like an ordinary sword the longer Percy stared at it. Its blade had a sort of darkness to it, like it was sucking in the light around it.

Percy sighed and sat down next to Nico, only faintly aware of his aching feet and legs. There were tears welling up in the corners of Nico’s eyes.

“He said I’d better make him proud. But I don’t care about him. I- I only wanted to find Bianca.”

Percy wrapped an arm around Nico and pulled him into a hug. The other boy leaned with his full weight against Percy and shuddered. 

“Hey, it’s alright. How about you just try to rest now? For as long as you want.” Percy said. 

He ignored the way the tears trickled down Nico’s face or the way his hands shook. He gently took the sword from Nico’s hands and sheathed it. He set it on wall mounted brackets next to the bed. Percy then unlaced Nico’s boots and worked them off one by one. Using his first aid kit, he used a wet wipe to clean the grime from Nico’s face. As he did so, Nico refused to meet his eyes. His jaw was locked tight, though his lower lip still trembled. 

Percy gave him a moment to change into clean clothes while he did the same. They crawled into beds on either side of the cabin, though the call for breakfast would come soon enough. Not like it mattered. Percy was going to sleep to his heart’s content. And given the way Nico was curled up under the covers, he needed time for himself as well. 

Despite everything he witnessed in the past twelve or so hours, Percy closed his eyes and fell asleep within moments. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk when the next update will be, my semester starts soon but I do want to finish this story (even if it takes a while). Hope you all understand and have a great day/night! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> **Edit: just as a little reminder, I've already made the decision to not include any romantic ships and have been saying it for multiple chapters now. Please don't ask me to change my mind or even mention pairings you'd like to see, bc at this point i will just consider it as being rude. I just want to focus on the story over romance so please respect my choice thank u ******


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